Fate Has a Way of Stepping In
by ThereseM
Summary: DEADLIEST CATCH New to Dutch Harbor Tess meets a captain by accident. Or is it just fates way of helping her. First attempt at fanfiction. Rating for later chapters. Italics represents dreams/fantasy.
1. Part 1

"Hey didn't your mom ever teach you to look both ways before you cross a street?!"

Phil Harris stood with his mouth agape wondering just how close he actually came to being hit by the truck. From what he could figure it was probably inches. After a few seconds to get his breath back he yelled "Didn't your mother ever teach you which side of the street to drive on?!"

The voice yelled back "No!"

It wasn't the sort of response Phil was expecting and he couldn't help but chuckle.

Meanwhile the driver had exited the truck and was checking the gear that was piled high in the back. It was at this moment that Phil realized that a very petite woman had been the cause of his near death experience. She was scrambling over the back of the truck checking the netting and the tarp that covered the load. Just as she was finished the door of the truck popped open again and a tiny pink blob hopped onto the sidewalk.

"Mommy, where are the boats?"

"Just let me double check that nothing is going to fall out and we will be on our way to the boats"

"Ok", the pink blob replied then attempted to re-open the truck's door.

Phil had just managed to make his way over to the truck and chivalrously opened the door for what on closer inspection was a little girl. She scrambled back into the truck and into a booster seat set up in the backseat. Just as Phil was about to close the door the little girl yelled out something that was definitely not english.

"She said thank you" said the woman.

"In what language?" asked Phil.

"Japanese" replied the woman.

As Phil turned to face the woman, about to ask where a child learns Japanese in Dutch Harbor. The woman started speaking.

"I'm sorry I almost killed you, I'm still getting use to driving up here. I assume you are not grievously injured." Phil shook his head. "I'm Tess."

Shaking her hand he realized that she wasn't wearing gloves and her hands felt like blocks of ice.

"Well I suppose I should do something to make up for almost killing you, however I'm on a tight schedule to deliver this stuff to a boat. I'm sure I'll see you again, Dutch Harbor isn't that big, I'll make it up to you then." Tess jumped in the car shifted into gear and sped off towards the docks.

Phil felt like he needed to pinch himself. What was a woman like that doing in Dutch Harbor. He suppose he'd have to go straight to the source of all information in Dutch Harbor, the bartenders at the Elbow Room. Carefully looking both ways he walked across the street.

* * *

Ch.2

Tess pulled up in front of the boat, she grabbed her clip board and hopped out of the truck. Just as she was helping Stella out of her seat there was a call from the deck. "Tessie, you are late!"

"Sorry Matt, I was busy almost running over someone."

"That's ok, we just finished up stowing the last order of bait, so the crane is free to get the pallet off the back of your truck."

Tess smiled gratefully. The Northwestern was her last delivery of the day and knowing that she could unload the truck immediately meant she would be able to buy some new gloves on the way home. She'd dropped her pair into the drink on her first delivery of the day. As she started to untie the tarp and netting from the pallet she reminded her daughter to stay away from the edge of the dock. Matt hopped up onto the railing and offered the little girl a hand to get her onto the deck.

"Stella, I want to show you something, it's in the galley." Before the little girl took Matt's hand she looked up waiting for the ok. With a brief nod from Tess, the little girl grabbed Matt's hand and pulled him towards the house.

Tess sighed. She hoped whatever the special treat was didn't require her to take it home. Matt had hinted that Stella had said she wanted a puppy. Tess had no real place to put a puppy or the desire to take care of one. She and Stella were still adjusting to life in Dutch. The hard work was a good way to keep her mind off everything. This was the busy season for Dutch, the weeks leading up to the start of Red Crab season. Getting this job was a godsend, it got her away from everything and everyone she wasn't ready to deal with. She knew she couldn't escape forever, but for now running was really the only option she was willing to deal with.

Edgar and Norman emerged from the door, they were all smiles when they saw that the back of the truck was uncovered and ready for unloading. Tess watched with admiration as the brothers moved to do their respective tasks. Norman on the crane controls and Edgar jumping into the back of the truck to sling the pallet for the crane. The whole process took just minutes. Edgar offered his hand so Tess could hop onto the deck. She hesitated trying to remember which foot to step on the boat with first, she decided she'd just jump and landed with both feet firmly on the deck. Edgar let out a chuckle as the captains voice came over the hailer "You are going to break your neck jumping like that." Tess just smiled and headed toward the pallet. The rest of the guys appeared on deck and formed a passing line from the pallet of goods into the galley. Stella appeared next to Matt just inside the door then disappeared back into the galley. Edgar grabbed the first box yelling "Creamer" then passing it to Nick, who tossed it to Jake, who tossed it to Norman who tossed it to Matt who placed it inside. As each item was announced Tess placed a check mark on her list. She was incredibly thorough, once the boats left port it wasn't as if they could just make a quick run to the store for something they forgot.

Once the pallet was unloaded and tossed back up onto the dock the group headed into the galley. Tess asked if they had everything they needed or wanted for the trip. She knew she would still deliver the fresh items a few days before they planned to leave port, so if the crew decided they needed last minute items she could still pick them up. Even if they realized they forgot something once they were out at sea she would be able to put together the supplement order and have it ready for them when they docked for an unload. Matt took out a battered notebook and read off the fresh ingredients he wanted to get and the quantities. Tess double checked that she had everything correct in her book. Once finished with the ordering Stella proudly asked her mom if she noticed anything different about the galley. As Tess looked around she noticed that the crew had framed a picture that Stella had drawn. Stella was bursting with pride. Tess remembered the day that Stella had started to draw the picture.

It had been a bitterly cold evening and they were both sitting in front of the space heater drinking hot cocoa and coloring. Stella had been working furiously on a picture and refused to let her see until it was finished. It had taken the little girl over a week to get the picture just perfect. Tess had asked if Stella wanted to put it on the fridge. The reply surprised her.

"I'm going to give it as a present to the boat."

The next day Tess and Stella walked down the dock to the Northwestern, after receiving permission to come aboard the crew was presented with the picture. Stella had only been on one delivery to the Northwestern at that point and she'd never been allowed on the deck of the boat. Stella was pleased by the crews reaction and as they were walking back toward their house she asked her mom if her picture would keep the boat safe from harm. Tess looked down into her daughters upturned face and said she hoped so.

Back in the Northwestern galley Tess looked at the beautiful frame the picture was displayed in and how it seemed to be attached to the wall with an inordinate amount of brackets. Sig sensing her confusion explained that they didn't want the picture to fall off the wall, so they put a few extra brackets on it. Glancing at her watch she realized she'd missed her opportunity for glove shopping and that it was time to head home to start dinner. As Tess reconfirmed the next delivery date, Stella gave each crew member a big squeeze and a small peck on the cheek telling each to "be careful out there". It had become her signature phrase and each man looked into Stella's eyes and promised to be extra careful.

* * *

Ch.3

After dinner was eaten and the dishes were cleaned Tess decided that she should probably email Frank at the supplier to say the crew was pleased with the delivery and to confirm the next order for the Northwestern. As she brought up the homepage on her laptop she noticed the signal bars were grey instead of black. No signal. Damn. She looked down to the carpet where Stella was stringing beads to make a necklace then glanced outside. With a sigh, she gathered up the coats and beckoned Stella to put on her coat, boots, and gloves. She needed to get this email out tonight to make sure the order was confirmed first thing in the morning which meant she and Stella were heading to the Elbow Room. Tess and Stella entered by the back door nearest the bar. Stella stood half in and half out the door unsure where she should be standing. Meghan one of the bartenders smiled and walked over.

"Close the door Stella your letting the warm air out."

"Sorry Meg" replied Stella.

"I'm sorry to come while your busy but my internet is out and I need to send an email." Tess explained. Meg smiled offering Tess the seat at the end of the bar and bringing Stella behind the bar and setting her up on a stool across from her mom.

Stella immediately asked Meg if she could help her. Meg smiled and moved Stella further down the bar so she was sitting directly in front of the garnishes. This was Stella's favorite job, she could skewer a cherry and drop it into glass or squeeze a lime into a bottle of Corona as fast as any bartender. She even made tips.

"Whoa, looks like Meg hired a new bartender" exclaimed the man sitting right in front of Stella.

Without missing a beat Stella asked "What'll it be?" and the entire bar erupted into applause and laughter.

Tess was just finishing up her email when a voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Hey, thanks for the cookies." It was Edgar. "We didn't find them until after you left, they were delicious. It's really nice for you to include them in the order. Did you and Stella make them from scratch?"

Tess smiled and nodded. Closing the rest of the programs on the computer the background picture suddenly came into view. The picture was Stella, Tess and a man in front of the Tokyo Tower.

"Didn't Godzilla knock that down in his movies?" asked Edgar.

"He sure did" said Tess while closing the laptop. "Stella, I'm all done".

"Don't go yet, at least let me buy you a drink. And you haven't met all the other captains. This way my lady" said Edgar with a mock bow.

Tess allowed Edgar to lead her to the table after she'd placed her laptop safely behind the bar. Once at the table introductions were made.

"This is Keith and Monte, they are on the Wizard, these are their deckhands Crosby and Lynn. This is Larry Hendricks, he's on the Sea Star."

Larry interrupted Edgar by saying her knew all about Tess, that she came highly recommended by Frank. Suddenly everyone was talking at once. Frank had done Tess' job for years but he'd finally gotten promoted to the corporate offices in Seattle. Frank had needed someone to take over for him and had chosen Tess. She hadn't realized that he had personally met with each boat to assure them that she was just the person for the job. She was embarrassed by all the praise and she felt her face heating.

"She's not that great, she nearly ran me over this afternoon." called a voice from behind her. Tess was pretty sure she couldn't blush any harder than she was at this exact moment. Taking a deep breath she replied "Since I seem to have found you again I suppose I should buy you a drink to make up for almost killing you."

"I'm Phil, you were in such a rush earlier I didn't get to introduce myself." Phil smiled at the rest of the table before turning his attention back to Tess.

Tess smiled, linked her arm through Phil's and steered him towards the bar, "Why don't we go to the bar and my daughter can make you a drink".

"How many daughters do you have?" Phil asked.

"Just one" Tess replied as they reached the bar. Phil was struck by how cute the little girl looked as she dropped garnishes into the glasses. Then as if realizing that a customer was waiting Stella raised her head and said "What'll it be?"

Phil laughed and ordered a whiskey sour. As Meg made Phil's drink. Stella asked "And for you ma'am, I mean mom." Tess replied, "I'll have a Shirley Temple with extra cherries." Stella's face broke out into a huge grin and she began to stab the cherries onto the tiny cocktail sword with gusto.

As Meg set Phil's drink down on the bar Tess asked if she was getting tired of her assistant. Meg shook her head and pointed behind her to the overflowing tip jar. "Everyone tips a little more when she's back here. I'm thinking of offering her a permanent position."

As Tess and Phil made their way back to the table Phil realized that he'd met the little girl twice and didn't know her name.

Tess answered his unspoken question. "Her name is Stella and she is 4 years old."

"She's something for a four year old", Phil said with a smile.

Tess glanced back at the bar and watched Stella twist a lemon rind into a martini glass and slide it to the patron that ordered it. "She is 4 going on 24. She's changed so much in the time we've been here."

"How long have you been here" asked Phil.

"About 2 months." answered Tess.

They'd reached the table and everyone shifted down so they could sit. Tess made sure she could keep an eye on Stella from her spot at the table. Nick noticing her eye line asked if she wanted to switch seats. Tess shook her head. Just then a commotion drew the tables attention to the front door. Two men entered, with a great deal of pushing and shoving. They both headed to the bar, straight toward Stella. Tess tensed, she didn't want those two idiots to do anything to scare Stella. Phil leaned over and said, "don't worry about Stella, Ding and Dong won't do anything to her." Tess raised an eyebrow silently asking Phil how he could know such a thing. In response Phil said "Those two idiots are my sons, they work on the boat with me." Tess shook her head slightly and watched as Phil's sons approached Stella.

A burst of laughter from the bar told Tess that Stella had said her "what'll you have line". The two boys looked as if they had been frozen, neither moved they just stared at her. Then they looked around as if to ask who she belonged to. Tess could see Stella waiting for their response. Finally they ordered something that got garnished with a lime. Drinks in hand they headed for the table.

"Have you guys seen the new mini me bartender?"

"What kind of idiotic mother would let her kid work in a bar like this?"

The whole table grew silent.

"That would be me, I'm Tess." Now if you'll excuse me I need to get the mini bartender home." With that Tess nudged Phil out of the way and walked towards the bar. Stella seeing her mom coming towards her looking upset immediately hoped off the stool and said goodbye to Meg. Stella was in her coat and boots by the time Tess had reached the end of the bar. She grabbed her coat and headed out the door with Stella in tow. In her rush she'd forgotten the reason she'd had to come to the bar, the laptop.

Meanwhile back at the table Jake and Josh were desperately trying to talk themselves out of a very bad situation. Edgar had been the first out of seat, in their faces telling them what assholes they were.

"Don't you two ever think before you talk?" asked Phil. "What am I saying, I know you don't." He stood abruptly and headed towards the bar. Once there he asked Meg for Tess' number. As Meg turned around to get a piece of paper she noticed the laptop, knowing that Tess would need it first thing in the morning she decided she'd get Phil to deliver it to her.

"Phil, I'll do you one better than a phone number. Can you please take this laptop up to her? She'll need it for the deliveries in the morning." Phil took the computer and the slip of paper containing Tess' address and headed to get his coat from the table. He set the computer down and shrugged on his coat.

"Dad, we are really sorry about what we said" started Josh "hey what's this?", he said picking up the notebook "this thing is sweet."

"Put it down Josh. I'm going to return it to Tess." barked Phil. Josh gently placed the computer down on the table. Phil finished zipping his coat, re-read the directions and headed out of the Elbow Room.

The trip up to Tess' house was short. She lived just off the docks in what Phil recognized as Frank's old place. Phil knocked on the door and waited. No one answered. He looked around for a doorbell, found it and rang it. He then heard the distinct sounds of footsteps approaching the door. He heard the bolt being unlocked and then the door swung open.

* * *

Ch. 4

Standing in the doorway Tess looked like an angel. She was backlit from the room behind her and was wearing a tank top and some very low slung pajama pants. The pants were sheer and Phil could see the outlines of her legs.

"You forgot your computer." was the first thing out of Phil's mouth. Followed quickly by "can I come inside, you must be freezing to death in that get up."

Tess stepped aside so Phil could enter. She took his coat and the laptop, beckoning him to follow her further into the house. He followed splitting his time staring at her and looking around the hallway. The house was clean and neat and smelled like cookies. She took a seat in one of the recliners and gestured that Phil should do the same. As soon as he sat down he let out a sigh of contentment. It was the most comfortable chair he'd had ever sat in.

"This chair is great!" exclaimed Phil.

"Thanks" said Tess, " you should be warned it does cause drowsiness."

Phil chuckled and took a moment to look around the room. There was a good size tv and a few bookshelves stuffed with books and dvds. There was a simple rug on the floor and a beautiful glass table that had beads strewn across it. The house looked cozy and lived in. Phil's casual perusal of the room was interrupted when Tess asked if he'd like some cocoa.

Phil was a little taken aback he hadn't been offered cocoa in a very long time. He said yes and watched as Tess stood and retrieved a cup from the kitchen. She poured a cup for him from a pot already on a small side table.

"Marshmallows?" asked Tess

"Huh?"

"Do you want marshmallows?"

"Sure"

Tess handed Phil the chocolate. He breathed in the heady aroma. It didn't smell like any hot cocoa he'd ever had. The first sip, burned his tongue slightly but the pain was worth it because the taste of the chocolate was delicious. Sweet, bitter, and decadent.

"This is delicious." exclaimed Phil "I've never had hot cocoa like this before."

"Thank you. It's hazelnut cocoa imported from holland. It's expensive but worth every penny."

Phil took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry about what the boys said back at the bar. They didn't mean any harm. Not that I'm excusing what they said. I'm sorry."

"Thanks. She shouldn't have been there. Your son's were right, she doesn't belong in a bar, she's a child." Tess said sadly.

Phil didn't know what to say. He sipped on his hot cocoa and tried to think of a topic that would lighten the mood. As he glanced around the room looking for something to talk about. His eyes stop on a framed print of a japanese character sitting on the mantle. "What's that picture for?" he asks pointing towards the mantle.

"It's the Japanese character for strength." Tess replies.

"So your daughter speaks Japanese and you have Japanese character pictures sitting on your mantel. You must really like Japan." said Phil.

"I use to live there." Tess said this so quietly that Phil wasn't even sure he'd heard her correctly.

"Live there? What did you do? Where you born there? Where in Japan?" the questions flooded out of Phil's mouth.

Tess looked off into middle distance debating whether to tell this man the truth, a half truth or a lie. She sighed.

Just as Phil was about to apologize for asking so many questions Tess began to speak.

"I lived there with my husband and Stella. He was stationed there after he finished his residency program in San Diego. We lived on Okinawa, but traveled to a lot of Asia.

We were scheduled to stay for 3 years, but just after the second summer we were there Eric received word that he was going to deployed to Iraq. He was and he died there.

Phil sat in shock. A lot of people come to Alaska to escape things, relationships, the law, their families. Whatever he'd expected Tess to say this was not it. He stood up and went over to where Tess was sitting, he gathered her up into his arms and held her. She sat rigid for a moment then relaxed into his tender embrace. It had been years since someone had held her like this. She felt compelled to finish the story, the damn was broken now, she wanted the story to flow out of her like a rushing torrent.

"He was already deployed for 9 months when the accident happened. One of his corpsmen twisted his ankle so Eric took his place in their convoy rotation. He was out with a convoy, they'd been hit by enemy fire and a few of the men were wounded. The convoy was heading back to base when a storm came up. It was pouring rain and the transport had to cross a gully. It had been dry before but it was full of water as they crossed it. It was too deep and the water was rushing too fast it toppled the vehicle Eric was in. Everyone was wearing their flack jackets and kevlar, they were too heavy to escape and they drowned. He went to the desert to drown. His CO and XO came to my door the day after they heard and told me. After that I just sort of sat there. My friends came and took care of Stella and helped me pack up the house. We went home to California and had the funeral and his family was there and our friends from the military. After a few months it was all too much I had to get out of there. I didn't really know where to go. Stella and I traveled a lot, seeing the country and visiting friends. Finally I felt we needed to put down roots at first I picked Seattle because we'd gone on vacation there once. When I applied for a job in the paper and got this one I decided that Dutch Harbor was just what I needed. Hard work and no time to live in the past."

Tess stood, collected the cocoa cups and pot and walked into the kitchen. Phil followed her in and started to wash the cups and place them in the drainer. Tess dried them and put them away as if she was on automatic pilot.

Tess finally lifted her eyes off the floor and looked at Phil. "Thank you for listening to me, I haven't told that story to anyone." With that she gave him a big hug. Inhaling his scent and enjoying the warmth that can only come from another person.

Tess walked Phil to the door and said her goodnights. Phil worried about leaving Tess on her own and said as much. She assured him she would be fine and would stop by the Cornelia Marie in the morning just to show him she had survived the night.

As Phil walked away from the small house towards the Elbow Room, his head full of the information he'd been given. He decided that he would have to keep an eye on Tess and Stella. With a huge sigh he entered the bar.


	2. Part 2

**Ch. 5**

**The noise in the Elbow room seemed to deafen Phil as he headed to the bar for a drink. With drink in hand he headed back to the table where a few of the crews were still seated. He looked around for his sons and saw them crouching down in the corner booth. He redirected his path and intercepted them at the table. Both boys looked pretty contrite. **

**"Dad, I'm really sorry about what I said. Is Tess ok?" asked Josh staring at the table top instead of his father. **

**Jake sat sullenly at the table staring at his drink. He felt terrible. He didn't even get a chance to apologize to Tess or her daughter. He and Josh had come up with a list of ways to make it up to Tess and Stella, but as the evening wore on he was having a hard time remembering any but the outlandish ideas. The top idea at the moment was flying them to Disney World for an all expense paid vacation. Josh and Jake would have to accompany them as would their dad's credit card, but the more they had discussed it the more possible it seemed. In fact before Phil had approached their table they were listing the rides they would go on and in what order. As Jake refocused on the conversation going on in front of him he noticed that his dad looked a bit distracted. **

**"Yo Dad what's wrong?" Jake said interrupting whatever Josh was about to say. Josh elbowed him in the gut and Jake swung to smack him but missed. Before the fight got out of hand Phil just stood up and walked back toward Sig and the Northwestern crew. **

**"Hey Phil, how's Tess doing?" asked Sig "You were there for a while, we thought perhaps you'd decided to stay over."**

**"She's a lady don't say that kind of shit about her." spat Phil. **

**"I didn't mean anything by it. She looked really upset when she left and I just figured she would want a little company." **

**"Sorry Sig, I didn't mean to jump all over you. She told me how she ended up here and it was quite a story. I suppose I'm still a little floored by what she said." **

**"Did she kill someone?" asked Edgar. **

**"Is she running from some abusive boyfriend?" asked Jake.**

**"Did she defraud a major corporation?" asked Nick. **

**"None of the above" stated Phil sadly. Then against a niggling sense that this was really Tess' story to tell he filled in the guys on what Tess had told him. **

**Once he was finished Jonathan and Andy went to the bar to order a round of whiskeys. Everyone at the table looked as if they needed a couple of very strong drinks. The thought that their happy little delivery girl had lost her husband in a war and was now living on her own in Dutch Harbor seemed wrong. Suddenly all the pictures Stella had made for their boats and her concern about their safety took on an even deeper meaning. With a quiet sigh, everyone picked up their glasses and said. "To Eric, thank you for the ultimate sacrifice." And they drank. **

**Much later that night Phil and the boys walked back to the Cornelia Marie, there was a little sway to their steps and each took a little extra care climbing onto the boat. The whole walk back Josh had asked Phil for more details about Tess' story. He was fascinated by the tragedy of it all. "It's like a fucking soap opera." he said as he headed into his stateroom. Phil finally laid down on his bunk he took a deep breath and let it out. He contemplated having another smoke, but changed his mind and closed his eyes. He was asleep in moments dreaming of an angel in pajama pants. **

**Ch. 6**

**Once Phil had left her house Tess straightened up the living room, taking special care to clean up and organize all of Stella's beads. Stella had said earlier that she planned to make good luck charms for all the fishermen. Tess hoped she would be able to finish the bracelets before the fleet left. Her house was starting to look like a sweatshop with only one 4 year old as the child labor. As Tess made her way upstairs she felt lighter, as if a huge weight had been taken off her . She stopped suddenly wondering if Phil would tell anyone else. She imagined all the people that she saw on a regular basis looking at her with sad eyes, pitying eyes, saying to themselves poor little Tess, what a tragic life she has. Those same looks caused her to leave California. It was a horrible loss in her life and she had mourned for Eric, still mourned him and she's done her best to move on, to make a new life for herself and her daughter. She cursed under her breath, "I shouldn't have fucking told him, this is a tiny community everyone is going to know by morning." And then what, would she leave? She couldn't. Frank had taken a chance on her, had given her this job and a place to live, he was the reason for her new start. She wouldn't let him down.**

**Tess poked her head into Stella's room, she recovered her little body with her princess blanket and tucked her sleeping beauty doll into her arms. Stella smiled in her sleep then rolled over. As Tess walked out into the hall she smiled to herself and wiped a few stray tears from her cheeks. Whatever came from telling Phil about her past she would take it as it comes for Stella. She walked into the bathroom and began to brush her teeth, as she glanced in the mirror she was shocked to realized what she'd been wearing. The tank top was ridiculously low cut and her pj bottoms were barely hanging onto her hips. Phil must have thought of her as a real tramp, she certainly had dressed the part. She walked to her closet and pulled out a beautiful silk robe. It was her favorite, pink with cherry blossoms all over it. She use to wear it every night without fail. Now to look at it reminded her how much her life had changed. She re-hung it in the closet and scribbled a note to herself to buy a new robe. As she climbed into bed she looked at her night table, the sleep medicine bottle stared back at her. She imagined it having an announcer's voice telling her how rested she would be if she took it, how her dreams would only be pleasant nonsense dreams about flying and she would wake up refreshed with perfect hair. She picked up the bottle weighing it in her hands. She hadn't taken the sleeping pills since she moved into Frank's house, she worried that if Stella woke up and needed her she would be in too deep of a sleep to hear her. The other bottles on the nightstand she did take, the antidepressants and the anxiety medications were part of her morning routines. She was pretty sure that she could make it through the day without them, but she didn't want to take a chance. **

**Snuggling under her covers her mind drifted through the days events, a range of emotions crossed her face as she recalled each event of the day, as the last part of the day was replayed in her mind a smile graced her features and she slipped into sleep. **

_**The dream was always the same. She was in a hospital, it was unfamiliar but she seemed to know her way around. She was desperately searching for Eric and Stella, she knew she needed to find them. She'd always find Eric first. He'd be in a room restrained to the bed with locked cuffs. She would struggle to free him and she would fail. They would hear his captors in the hallway and he would tell her to go, to save herself and Stella. She would refuse, she didn't want to leave his side. She would be crying, pleading with the captors to take her instead that Eric was a doctor that he was needed to save lives. Then she would hear Stella start to cry from outside the door. The captors would bring her in to the room. They would hold them both and ask her to choose one to save, one to go free. Eric would be pleading for her to choose Stella to save herself and his daughter. Tess would continue to plead to take her instead, that she would forfeit her life for theirs. They would refuse and say they would kill both of them, that it was a simple choice and she **_

_**couldn't even make it. Then there was the sound of a gunshot.**_

**Tess shot up in bed covered with sweat and sobbing uncontrollably. It was always the same. She could barely remember the last time the dream changed. Little things sometimes changed, details really, what color clothes people would wear, if they were leather cuffs on Eric or plastic ties or if Stella looked as if she'd been hurt. Tess sighed and hoisted herself out of bed, it was 5:15 am and she knew she wasn't going to go back to sleep. She padded downstairs and started the coffee pot, she stared into her refrigerator trying to decide what she would make for breakfast. She had a few hours before she needed to leave for work, plenty of time to bake some double chocolate chip muffins. **

**A few hours later dozens of muffins were piled into plastic bags ready to be added to each of her deliveries. She saved the best batch for the Cornelia Marie. She'd already decided that would be her first stop. **

**Tess walked into Stella's room and opened the blinds to let in a little natural light. Next she went to the closet, picking out a long sleeve shirt, a t-shirt, and a pair of jeans then to top off the look a sweatshirt. The only way to stay warm was to layer. Then if it got warm during the course of the day she could remove a layer at a time. Once Stella's outfit was laid out on her rocking chair, Tess retreated to her room for a quick shower. **

**Under the warm spray she allowed her mind to go blissfully blank. She sighed and let her overactive imagination began to create a wonderful fantasy. **

_**She was on a ship dressed in period clothing. She was standing on the bow looking out at the calm sea. A gravely voice called to her from the deck below. It was the captain. She alighted down the ladder careful to keep her modesty in tact. The captain laughed haughtily at her display. "You have no need to cover yourself from me, you've been sold to me and I own each and every inch of you." He roughly grabbed the maiden's arm and dragged her below deck. In his quarters he stripped off the dress she was wearing leaving her in her corset and petticoats. He smiled as her pert breasts were pushed to bursting out of the top of the corset. He had no idea she had such assets. He nuzzled her cleavage, licking and nipping as he frantically untied the strings at the back of the corset. Losing his patience he drew his knife and sliced it from her. Rending the cloth of the petticoats and leaving her naked before him. He glanced upon her body with lustful reverence. He wanted to fall at her feet to worship her but instead he demanded she strip him. The maiden looked down unsure where to start. The pirate tucking the point of the knife under her chin advised her to get on with it. She undressed him quickly, inhaling his scent as she moved to remove his clothing. He smelled of the sea and something that was specifically male. She felt her body responding to his nearness, his brutality. At once she wanted to give herself over to this brute, wanted him to take her to the heights of ecstasy. Sensing the change in her the captain laid her down on the palate and drew himself above her. He nipped at her breasts, suckling them like a baby would. His hand traveled down the curves of her body, once he found her nexus he spread her and tested her readiness. He was surprised and pleased that she was wet and ready. Without ceremony he moved atop her, she spread her legs inviting him to enter her. He did pushing himself in to the hilt. She was tight and stretched to her limits. He pounded into her without mercy finding his own pleasure without giving a thought to hers. But she was not a shrinking virgin, she worked her hand between their bodies and plucked at herself until she was writhing in pleasure and urging the captain to take her harder. At this announcement the captain groaned spilling into her just as she reached her pinnacle. Crying out the name of her captain. **_

**Tess was still coming down from her orgasm when she realized two things. Firstly her phone was ringing. Secondly, she was pretty sure she'd said someone's name when she climaxed. While fantasizing in the shower was a fairly common occurrence, she'd never said anyone's name. All the fantasies were generic, no names were used not even her own. She quickly finished the shower and got dressed. She glanced at the clock on the wall and realized that her shower session was going to make her late for work. **

**Stella was already downstairs eating a muffin and drinking a glass of milk. She was perfectly dressed and even had her rain boots on. "Morning Momma. I love the muffins." She chirped. **

**Tess descended on her daughter giving her a big squeeze and a good morning kiss. She asked her if she had brushed her teeth and once she got an affirmative answer she began to brush the little girls hair. Today Stella wanted pigtails. **

**Ch.7**

**The truck drove slowly along the deck stopping in front of the Cornelia Marie. Phil had been watching the dock all morning and was thrilled when he saw Tess and Stella hop out. Stella waved and yelled something which Phil couldn't hear. Tess was holding something in her hands which she handed to Freddie as she climbed down onto the deck. Phil hurried down the stairs and out onto the deck. By the time he'd made it out his entire crew was eating muffins. Tess blushed slightly when she handed him the muffin. Phil thought the blush made her even more beautiful. He quickly pressed that thought down, she was probably still reeling from the death of her husband. **

**Ding and Dong seemed to be giving each other some strange looks then as if they'd rehearsed their speech they started to speak in unison. "We are so sorry about what we said last night at the bar. Stella is an awesome little girl and we have no right to judge anyone on how they live. We are sorry about everything and you have our deepest sympathies about your husband."**

**Tess started. That answered her question, Phil had gone right back to the Elbow Room and told everyone. Stella walked over to her mom and grasped her hand, then said that she was ready to go. Tess picked up her daughter and Stella immediately rested her head on her shoulder, hiding her face from everyone on the deck. Tess walked over to the dock while mentally trying to figure out how she was going to get herself off the boat while holding Stella. Freddie came to her rescue, hopping up on the dock and reaching for Stella. With Stella in his arms, he held his hand out to help Tess up. Once on the dock he handed Stella back and Tess packed her up in the car and drove off. **

**The whole Cornelia Marie crew stood frozen. Freddie announced that he had some stuff to check on and everyone else immediately found something else to do. Soon the deck was empty except for Phil and his sons. They stood in silence not making eye contact. Phil felt terrible he shouldn't have told anyone about what Tess had shared about her past. He felt even worse that he had caused Stella pain, the little girl looked completely despondent. **

**Josh finally broke the silence. "I don't understand what just happened. Were you not suppose to tell us? We were just trying to say we were sorry and I think we managed to make everything worse." **

**"We are sure living up to Ding and Dong today" replied Jake.**

**"I have to go talk to her. I didn't know it was suppose to be a secret, she never said anything to that effect when we talked last night." Phil was frantic. He walked up to the wheel house trying to figure out how to find her. He sat down in his chair, as he reached for the pack of cigarette he realized that he was still holding the muffin Tess had given him. He took a bite and groaned. It was delicious, probably the best muffin he'd ever eaten yet he felt as though he didn't deserve it. He had broken her trust and hurt her daughter. He felt like a monster. **


	3. Part 3

Ch.8

Tess had just finished up her last delivery and was heading home to check on Stella. Stella had just asked to go home after they left the Cornelia Marie. The reaction to the boys condolences really surprised her, usually Stella would just say thank you. Although to be fair no one had said anything like that to Stella in a year. Suddenly Tess realized how much she and Stella had been sheltered from their loss. They had grieved but they had not stayed to get use to the constant condolences. The moment those words had been said Tess was transported back into the cemetery, into the receiving line next to her mother in law, hearing everyone say how sorry they were for her loss. Tess remembered Stella sitting quietly on the folding chair staring at the coffin with the folded American Flag in her lap. They'd stayed until the coffin was lowered into the ground and the sod placed on top. Once they left the cemetery Tess never wanted to go back. She'd never been back to see the headstone that was chosen or if they had put in a hole for flowers. Tess didn't have the strength.

Tess stopped by the post office to pick up her mail. A large certified mail envelope was handed to her by Margie. Tess thought it was odd, she only received mail from Frank and he would have given her a heads up if he was sending something official. Margie interrupted her train of thought.

"Tess, you look like you could use a night off. Hows about I take Stella tonight and you can go have some grown up time."

"Thanks Margie, I was going to help Tess with her good luck charms tonight. But you're right I could use a night to myself."

Tess walked out of the post office with a smile on her face. Margie was coming over for dinner and then Tess would head out for a night on the town. She contemplated just finding a quiet spot somewhere and reading a book without interruption or just staying home in the bathtub. As she mulled these options over in her head she realized that she would be squandering a generous offer for a night out. Tonight Tess would hit the town.

Ch.9

Stella jumped up as she heard the door unlock. She ran at full tilt to her mother, who promptly dropped the mail and picked up a squirmy armful of little girl.

"Guess who's here?" Stella asked.

"Meg" Tess answered.

"No, she had to go into work, emergency something. So she got me a new babysitter."

Tess froze, surely Meg would have called her if something came up, or would have just taken Stella into the bar. All worry evaporated as Tess turned the corner to see Matt sitting at the coffee table trying to string beads onto a bracelet wire while Enchanted played on the TV.

"Boy am I glad you are back, I've lost so much of my manhood in the last two hours I'm going to have to punch everyone I see for the next two weeks." exclaimed Matt as he gently put down the bracelet he was working on. "We did make a little headroom in the good luck charm department though. And just to be upfront I ate the last 3 chocolate muffins. Well shared them really" his eyes slid to Stella who was innocently watching TV.

Tess smiled at the confession. She had already guessed that they had been eaten since there was a trail of crumbs from the kitchen to the coffee table. She also noticed that all the dirty dishes were cleaned and put away.

"Stella, who washed the dishes?"

"I did" Stella said proudly "Matt rinsed and then put them away where I told him."

"So Matt I hope you haven't jumped ship just to baby-sit today?" said Tess evenly.

"Nah. Meg called Sig on the boat and we drew straws to see who got to come. I won. I think Edgar was really bummed that he lost. Although when I tell him what I did all afternoon he will probably be relieved that he didn't win." laughed Matt.

"I owe you a huge debt of gratitude that I'd like to pay back in food. Can you stay for dinner?" asked Tess.

"I don't know I've already been off the boat for a while, they are probably expecting me back. What's on the menu?"

Tess smirked. "It's roast beef with potatoes and carrots, salad and some rolls." Tess walked to the kitchen and pulled the top off the crock pot, the smell of a proper Sunday dinner filled the room. "Are you sure you can't stay?"

Matt was out of seat in a flash, leaning over Tess and inhaling the delicious scent of the meal. "I'll stay" he said.

Tess busied herself setting the table and warming up the rolls. Once the table was set and everything was served Stella, Tess and Matt all sat down together. Matt looked at his host as she did the sign of the cross and then Stella said grace. Matt could tell that this was a nightly routine, he felt as if he was getting a small glimpse into what Tess and Stella's private life was like, he felt like an interloper. After grace Tess realized that she'd forgotten the drinks. "What would you like Matt?"

"Um whatever you're having." replied Matt.

Tess returned with 3 glasses of milk. Setting one in front of Matt she smiled. "You asked for it."

Matt smiled back at her. He liked milk, they drank it all the time on the boat when they were out to sea. There was an absolutely no alcohol policy while fishing and that was probably for the best. Fishing was hard enough without adding additional impairments to ones body.

"This is delicious. You are a great cook." gushed Matt. "I could eat at your house every single day."

"You can come for dinner every night " said Stella excitedly "Mommy always makes lots."

Tess smiled, slightly embarrassed at Stella's comment. She did always make too much, but it was hard to adjust recipes for just 2 people, especially when one is a child with constantly changing preferences.

Matt laughed. "I think the rest of the crew would get jealous."

Stella seemed to pondering the truth of Matt's statement when the doorbell rang. Stella jumped up from her seat to go see who it was.

"Hi Margie!"

"Hi Stella Bella. My you've gotten even bigger since the last time I saw you." said Margie as she entered the little dining room. She smiled at Tess and Matt who were still seated at the table.

"Tess, don't even think of getting up. I'll serve myself. Hello Matt, I didn't think Sig allowed anyone off the boat before all the pots were fixed."

"Hi Margie. I was just helping out Meg with watching Stella. I won the straw draw to get to leave the boat." Matt said proudly.

Tess stood up and took her dishes to the sink. "I'm just going to run upstairs and change, help yourself to seconds Matt." With that she disappeared up the stairs. She remerged 15 minutes later. She was dressed in a pair of black pants and a jewel toned halter top. Tess rooted around in the hall closet looking for a sweater. She thought she looked pretty nice in the mirror upstairs, she'd even decided to put on a little makeup.

Matt looked shocked. He'd never seen Tess in anything except a huge jacket. She was always bundled up in a ridiculous number of layers when she was working. Matt realized for the first time that she had a body under all those layers and it was a damn nice one. He also wondered why she was dressed like that, she looked like she could be going on a date.

"Where are you off to?" Matt asked.

Before Tess could answer, Margie said "I gave her the night off, letting her have a little time to herself to remember that although she's a mom she's also a woman."

"Cool. Can I walk you to wherever you are heading?"

"Sure Matt, I would appreciate it. I think I'm just going to head to the Elbow Room." replied Tess.

Once Margie had Stella's bath and bedtime schedules Tess and Matt headed out the door and down the road to the Elbow Room.

Ch.10

Walking to the Elbow Room was a pretty quick walk so Matt figured if he was going to talk to Tess he was going to have to do it now.

"Um when I got to your place today, Meg told me that Stella was kind of upset earlier and not to mention anything about her dad. I didn't ask her anything, but she asked me if I'd ever lost anyone? Matt stopped unsure if he should finish telling Tess what had happened. He took a deep breath and continued. "I told her that some of my friends had died over the years as had my grandparents. She patted my hand and told me that her daddy was probably keeping them healthy in heaven. I didn't know he was a doctor. I didn't even know you had a husband until Phil told us last night. Then Stella took me up to her room and showed me her photo album, she could tell me the story behind every single picture. She said that she was glad to be able to show me her pictures that sharing memories are a way of keeping a lost person alive in our hearts. I asked if she missed him and she said yes, she said that she prays he is safe and happy in heaven. I told her that I'm sure is. Stella is an amazing little girl. She's worried about you, she said you cry at night and sometimes you have nightmares. I just wanted to tell you that I'm here for you if you need me, to listen, to talk, or just to sit quietly with you and stare into space."

Tess was floored, she had no idea Stella could hear her crying or her nightmares. She turned and gave Matt a fierce hug. "Thanks" she whispered her voice thick with tears. She didn't know what else to say. He had been the first person she'd met when she got to Dutch Harbor. He'd picked up Stella's mermaid when she'd dropped it at the airport. It was Stella's favorite toy, she got it at Tokyo Disney and she never went to sleep without it. When Matt had handed that toy back to Stella all Tess could think about was that she would never have been able to replace it. Matt had seemed like a hero that day and today he had proved it was an apt description.

Tess reached into her bag, drew out a small handkerchief and dried her eyes. Matt had never seen a woman do that in real life, it was something straight out of a movie. Tess noticed Matt staring at her.

"What?, have you never seen someone use a handkerchief before?"

"Not unless it was on Masterpiece Theatre or something. Tess you are something else, just when I think I have you pegged, you do something unexpected."

The two walked in companionable silence until they reached the docks. As Matt turned to return to the deck of the Northwestern he waved. Tess immediately noticed the bracelet on his right wrist. Stella must have given him his, that thought made her smile.

After a couple of deep breaths she pushed open the door of the Elbow Room.


	4. Part 4

Ch.11

Tess entered the bar from the front entrance for the first time. Normally she always went in through the side door because she had Stella with her. She shrugged out of her coat and hung it on one of the hooks by the door. She was completely oblivious to the number of looks she was receiving. Just as she was about to turn around she felt a tap on her shoulder, it was Josh.

"I haven't seen you around here before. Can I buy you a drink"

Tess turned and faced him, she cocked her head to the side and waited to see if he would recognize her. When he took her arm and lead her to the bar without a word she realized that he had no idea who she was. She was biting her lip trying to keep from laughing when they finally got to the bar. Meg came over and immediately recognized Tess.

"Wow Tess you really clean up nice!"

"Thanks Meg, and thanks again for watching Stella today, you are a real lifesaver." stated Tess.

Josh started to back away suddenly realizing that he was picking up on Stella's mom. Stella the girl he and Jake had made cry only this morning. But before he could move away Tess grabbed his arm.

"I thought you were going to buy me a drink." said Tess with a slightly teasing voice.

"Of course, what would you like? And may I say you look amazing tonight." replied Josh.

Tess ordered a vodka tonic and Josh ordered a captain and coke. As they waited for their drinks Josh contemplated apologizing now or waiting until he and Jake could do it together. Before Josh had reached a decision Tess broke the silence.

"I'm sorry about this morning. You and your brother didn't do anything wrong. I didn't expect Stella to react the way she did. But I want you, your brother and your dad that none of you did anything wrong."

They lapsed back into silence and once the drinks arrived Josh led Tess back to the group of tables where the crews were sitting..

As they approached there were a few catcalls.

"Where did you find this pretty lady Josh?" yelled Jonathan.

"Damn it Josh you are one lucky son of a bitch." hollered Andy.

Once they actually got to the table Josh just smiled. "Let me re-introduce you to Tess our favorite supply delivery girl."

The ruckus that erupted at the table was deafening. Tess blushed slightly and accepted the seat next to Phil at the table. Once the table settled down the questions started. Everyone was talking all at once and Tess could barely make out half of the words in each man's questions. Finally they all realized that she didn't seem to be saying anything and they all quieted down.

Tess took a deep breath . "I hope I didn't startle any of you with the realization that I am actually female. I've had this body since I got here, nothing new has sprouted over night. It's not my fault that tonight was your first opportunity to see it. As for the fact that I was married, you all act like I had been keeping a secret from all of you. Surprisingly it's not really a subject that comes up easily in conversation . How would you feel if the first thing I said to you was. Hi my name is Tess, my husband was killed in Iraq and now I'm up in Alaska trying to start a new life by running from the memories of the old one. It would have been a bit much." Tess took a long sip of her drink then continued. "I'm not sorry that you know, it really saves me from having to tell you. As for Stella, she loves her daddy very much and understands that he is in heaven and she will happily tell you all about him if you ask her. He was a great man and I loved him very much, but I can't join him where he is so I came here." There was a pause. "I suppose I'd be willing on this one occasion to answer any questions you may have about my life. This is a one time opportunity and it's for a limited time only."

The group was quiet. Tess looked down and realized that she'd finished her drink. She stood up and headed to the bar for another. Matt intercepted her at the bar.

"I can't believe what you just said to everyone. Do you feel better or worse?" Matt asked concern lacing his voice.

Tess just smiled slightly and signaled Meg for another drink. She didn't really know how she felt. Slightly numb would be the best way to describe her current feelings. Tess hadn't had a drink since leaving California, she made it a rule never to drink in front of her daughter. Meg placed a shot of vodka in front of Tess. Without a second thought Tess tossed it back grabbed the fresh drink and headed back to the table. She might as well get this over with.

Ch.12

While Tess and Matt had been at the bar the guys had instantly descended into conversations about which questions they should ask her. Phil sat stoically nursing his beer, he felt that he still owed Tess an apology for telling her story. This was a golden opportunity for him to find out anything and everything he wanted to know about her. He wondered what sorts of questions would be asked and if she would really answer them. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Matt talking to Tess at the bar. He felt jealous anger seep into his blood, why did Matt get to be so close to her, what was his angle. Phil lit a cigarette without a second thought, he sat puffing and musing until Tess returned to the table.

"Well? Who's going to ask the first question?"

"How old are you?" asked Edgar. It was an easy opener.

"33" was Tess' reply. "Next?"

The questions went on like this for a while. They found out her favorite color was green, where she went to high school and college. A list of all the jobs she'd had until moving to Dutch Harbor. Easy little questions that really didn't answer what they wanted to know. Then someone took the questions to the next level.

"Did you get a lot of money from the military after Eric was killed?"

Without missing a beat Tess replied, "kind of. We got the money for the SGLI that he had through them, but we also had private insurance."

"Did you ever get to see his body?"

"No, I didn't. He was actually cremated over in Iraq before being sent home." Tess was surprised about the questions. They were all fact questions. Like the men were building a timeline of her life up until this point. Emotions didn't matter, how long she grieved didn't matter, her motivations for moving to Alaska weren't called into question. It was quite refreshing. The male point of view, just get the facts.

Once the facts had been established to the men's liking the question and answer period came to an end.

Tess had gotten no questions about Stella. It seemed like that topic was off limits. She'd only mentioned her once while answering about how long she planned to stay. She'd said it depended on the school Stella would be going to. All in all it went better than she expected. With a relaxed smile she excused herself and stepped outside to call and check on how Margie was doing.

She'd barely closed the phone when a pair of strong arms encircled her from behind. She knew who it was by smell alone.

"Hi Phil."

"Hi. I heard what you told Josh at the bar. Thanks for forgiving them. If you hadn't they were hatching a plan to take you and Stella on an all expense trip to Disney World on my American Express Card."

Tess laughed. She could almost see the boys chasing after Stella or standing in line for Cinderella's autograph. Then she imagined Josh, tearing a page out of the autograph book, jotting down his number and telling Cinderella to call him. She quickly shook her head to clear the mental image.

Phil turned her in his arms so she was facing him. She felt cared for and cherished in his embrace. Tess looked up into his eyes waiting, she thought he looked like he needed to say something . Phil was at a loss as what to say, sometimes mere words couldn't express what needed to be said. He leaned in gently giving Tess plenty of time to pull away if she wanted to. Tess' eyes fluttered closed as she realized his intentions.

Then the door to the bar flew open.

"Tess! Sig's buying shots, get in here." Matt oblivious of the situation he was interrupting grabbed Tess by the arm and hauled her inside.

Phil looked at her retreating form. "Fuck" he muttered and headed back inside.

Tess was pulled back to the table by Matt, where she was squished in between Norman and Edgar. They were both holding shots and soon she was holding her own shot glass filled with vodka.

Sig stood at the head of the table and proposed the first toast. "To our good friend Tess, may she be with us as long as she can in person but always in our hearts. Skal!" They all tossed back their shots and Sig immediately filled the glasses again. This time Tess made the toast. "To all my new friends, may you all have good fortunes and calm seas. Campai!"

The toasting and drinking went on for what seemed like hours. Tess was very drunk by the time she announced she needed to go home. Phil, Jake and Josh volunteered to escort her back to her house and get her safely into bed. As they walked up the street towards the house, Tess was singing and stumbling. By the time they got a block from her house she'd almost fallen at least five times and Josh had taken to carrying her over his shoulder. Arriving at the front door Josh set her gently on her feel she immediately sat down into the potted plant next to the front door. Phil gingerly retrieved her keys from her jacket pocket and unlocked the door. Jake offered Tess his hand, but after attempting to grab it a few times Jake just sighed and hoisted Tess into his arms, carrying her like a little baby.

Tess' head lolled backwards in Jake's arms and as he turned to ask his dad where to put her, he smacked her head against the hall mirror causing it to swing. Tess didn't even open her eyes. Phil motioned for Jake to lay her down on the couch. Next he went to the fridge to get her a glass of water. He noticed the note on the fridge and read it. "Dear Tess, I thought you'd like a nice peaceful morning, in case you've overindulged. I've taken Stella home with me and will take her to morning mass. Pick her up whenever you feel like it. Love, Margie. PS: We've taken the beads with us. " Phil smiled, Margie always was seemed to know what people required even if they didn't ask. She obviously knew that Tess needed a night out and what she would probably be doing.

When Phil re-entered the living room Jake and Josh were sitting in the recliners with their eyes closed. Tess was passed out on the couch, with only one shoe on. Phil sighed, it was up to him to get her upstairs to bed. As he leaned over to pick her up he heard the recliners move.

"We'll get her dad, wouldn't want you to throw your back out carrying her up the stairs."

"Fine boys, lets get her to bed. She's probably going to have quite a hang over tomorrow."

The entire party stumbled into Tess' bedroom. They'd gone into Stella's room first and after a heated debate about just putting Tess down in the toddler bed, they'd agreed to find her actual room. Josh dropped her onto the bed and then fell into it next to her.

"That was a lot harder than I expected. Not that she's heavy or anything, just being this drunk and having to make sure not to drop her or hit her head on anything took a lot out of me."

Jake immediately started looking in her dresser.

"What do you think you're doing?" hissed Phil.

"Uh, she's going to want to change into pajamas or something. She won't be comfortable wearing that outfit all night." explained Jake.

"Fine, just pick some pj's and then stay out of her stuff." replied Phil.

Phil assessed the situation. He'd need to get Josh off the bed, if only to get Tess under the covers. He also needed to figure out a way of changing her into pajamas while keeping her modesty in tact. Finally he would have to make sure she wasn't going to react badly to all the drinking, which meant he and boys were going to spend the night.

Jake tossed a pair of pajama bottoms and tank top on the bed. He'd debated on which pair to choose she had so many, but once he found the ones with the monkey's on them the choice had been made. As he walked towards the side of the bed he noticed the ridiculous number of medicine bottles on the nightstand. He leaned down to take a better look. He had just finished reading the medicine bottle for insomnia when his dad barked "Stop snooping!"

"Dad, what if she needs to take something before she goes to bed?" Jake said then resumed picking up the medicine bottles. He read the labels, take one a day for anxiety, take once a day for depression, take once a day for depression, take once a day for depression. Most of the bottles were for depression or anxiety. There was a small bottle in the back it didn't actually have a printed label it was hand written. Jake had to squint to read the printing. "Mother's Little Helper. Stay strong and know that I'll refill whenever you need it. X" The message was weird and he didn't recognize the pills. "Mother's Little Helper" sounded strangely menacing, he took some comfort in noting that the bottle was almost completely full and the cap was covered in a thin layer of dust. Whatever help Tess needed she wasn't getting it from this little bottle.

"Well?" asked Phil impatiently.

"What?" said Jake.

"Does she need to take any of those pills?" demanded Phil.

"Doesn't look like it. So you want to change her now or what?" asked Jake.

Josh moaned and tried to roll over when Jake sucker punched him to wake him up. They needed him off the blanket so they could get Tess under it once they changed her. Josh rolled out of the bed and slowly opened his eyes. He looked confused for a moment, but when Jake pointed to the bed and Tess, Josh immediately remembered where he was and what he was suppose to be doing.

"Alright boys, we are going to change her into these pajamas and get her into bed. Now lets to try to do this as adult as possible, no comments or noises." Phil started with her socks, once he had them removed he noticed her toes were painted a ridiculously bright purple and small white flowers adorned her big toes. He glanced up her body watching Jake remove her bracelets and earrings. Josh was staring at the halter top as if it was some sort of bomb that needed to be defused and he didn't know whether to cut the red or the blue wire.

"Josh, surely you've taken tops off many girls in your lifetime. Untie the back and then pull it off." said Phil.

"I thought we were trying to keep her modesty in tact? If I do it that way we'll see her boobies."

Phil scrubbed his hand over his face. Josh was right. Phil was trying to decide a different way to change her when Josh lifted Tess into a sitting position. He and Jake struggled to get the tank top over the other top. Once on, they pulled her arms through Josh untied the halter and pulled it down to her waist.

"Ta Da!" announced Josh. "No boobies were seen in the changing of this garment."

They all laughed. Now all that was left were her pants.

Phil reached up and undid the button and then pulled down the zipper. He tried to keep his eyes away from her body but got slightly worried when he didn't see a flash of color. The farther he pulled the zipper the more nervous he got, he realized that she might not be wearing underwear. He felt himself start to harden. She was walking around the bar all night with no underwear. Just as the zipper reached the last few centimeters a tiny patch of red came into view. He sighed in relief and pulled the pants down and off. When he glanced back up he was face to face with the tiniest pair of red undies he'd every seen. They were barely more than a triangle of fabric and a few ribbons holding it on her body.

"Now those are what are commonly referred to as shreddies. Tess you are full of surprises."

Phil wasn't sure which son had made the comment all he knew was that he needed to get these monkey pajamas pants on her immediately.

Jake walked down to the foot of the bed and handed Phil the monkey pants. They both grabbed a foot and started threading the pajamas over her legs. Once they reached the top of her legs they both realized simultaneously that the tiny red shreddie was a thong and both their hands were touching Tess' bare bottom. They both froze for a brief moment then quickly finished pulling the pajamas up to her waist.

"Full of surprises" said Jake quietly.

Once Tess was safely tucked into bed Phil and the boys headed downstairs. They helped themselves to some leftover roast beef with water with a handful of advil as dessert. Phil new that there was an extra bedroom upstairs, whether it had a bed in it or it was full of junk was unknown. The boys headed up to investigate, when they didn't immediately return Phil turned off the tv and went to find out what happened. Standing on the threshold of the extra bedroom Phil was met by the site of his two sons, stripped to their boxers sleeping on top of a very frilly bedspread. Without a second thought Phil whipped out his cell and snapped a few pictures. Then he glanced around for a blanket. No blankets were found in the extra bedroom so Phil headed next door into Stella's room. He grabbed the princess blanket off her bed and headed back in to cover Jake and Josh. Once covered he took a few more pictures. Taking a moment to email some to Freddie and Murray with a note that they were staying at Tess' for the night.

Phil walked into Tess' bedroom she was still in the same spot as before. He filled a cup with water and placed it along with a few advil on the nightstand next to her bed. He debated what to do next. He could just go back downstairs and watch a little TV, but he was worried about Tess getting sick. She'd need someone to be close at hand, and while the boys were only down the hall he had his doubts they would actually wake up. Phil decided to just lay down next to her on top of the blankets. He was still fully clothed, and she was safe under the covers.

They all slept that way until 5:15 am, when all the Harris boys were woken up by a terrible scream and horrible choking sobs. Tess had just woken up from her standard nightmare, she was immediately enveloped by Phil's strong arms and Jake and Josh rushed into the room and onto the bed. "Oh my God, Tess are you ok?" asked Josh.

Jake was still shaken from being woken up in such a horrendous way. He instantly wondered if maybe she should have taken one of those pills the night before. As he watched her trembling form he couldn't imagine a dream so realistic and terrible to cause such a reaction.

Tess' breathing was starting to return to normal, the sobbing had stopped and she was just breathing deeply and hanging onto Phil like a lifeline. Suddenly aware that someone was holding her made her crack open her eyes. Her eyes were met by beautiful blue ones, crinkled with concern. She opened her eyes wider and realized that she was peering into the very worried face of Captain Phil Harris. This was certainly a surprise. She didn't even remember how she'd gotten home. She scanned the room taking in the exhausted faces of Jake and Josh Harris. It seemed as if her bedroom had become the spot of an impromptu Harris family reunion.

"Where's Stella? and What are all of you doing here?" inquired Tess.

"Stella stayed with Margie last night, there was a note on the fridge. We are here because we wanted to make sure you were ok. We brought you home last night and got you into bed. You were pretty wasted" explained Phil.

"I couldn't have been that drunk because I got myself dressed. " Tess countered.

"Actually, you didn't. We changed you into the pajamas." confessed Josh.

Tess looked mortified, so Josh quickly added. "We actually kept your modesty in tact, none of us saw your boobies."

At the word boobies Tess started laughing. The whole situation was so bizarre she was either going to laugh or start crying. As soon as she started laughing she realized that someone was playing the bongos inside her head. She wondered if it was Matthew McConahey and if he was shirtless while playing.

Phil noticed that Tess seemed to be going into some sort of mental lapse and gave her firm shake.

Jake handed her the glass of water and the advil encouraging her to take them. Once she'd swallowed the pills Jake got up and walked over to the bedside table with the other bottles on it.

"Do you need any of these? I'm sorry we didn't give you them last night, we didn't know which one you needed." he explained.

Tess shook her head. "I don't take anything at night. There are some sleeping pills but I never take them incase Stella wakes up. They don't make an anti-nightmare pill yet. I'm really sorry I woke all of you up. To make it up to you how about I let you go back to sleep and I'll make some breakfast when you wake up."

Realizing that it was barely 5:30 Jake and Josh shuffled back into the extra bedroom and fell back asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillows. Tess got up and headed straight into her bathroom. Once Phil heard the shower start he leaned back and closed his eyes. The next thing he knew the delicious smell of frying bacon and strong coffee lured him out of sleep. He glanced at the clock and realized that it was after 8.

Stretching he noticed that Tess had covered him in a green blanket, it was incredibly soft and smelled like her. He was just about to take another sniff of the blanket when he heard his son's raised voices coming from downstairs.

Jake and Josh had Tess cornered in the kitchen. There was freshly cooked bacon in the oven and a bowl of eggs that looked like they were waiting to be cracked. Tess was huddled on the counter, tossing freshly baked biscuits at the approaching boys.

"Who's idea was it to cover us with this blanket?" yelled Jake as he brandished Stella's princess blanket.

Freddie was laughing hysterically from the dining room table. He'd stopped by a few minutes earlier to see how everyone was doing. When Tess had answered the door and invited him to stay for breakfast he repaid her kindness by showing her the photos and message he'd received from Phil last night. Tess was shocked to see Stella's princess blanket being drooled on by the doorbell brothers. She immediately woke them from a sound sleep by ripping the blanket off the bed and stomping downstairs. Unfortunately, that was a serious mistake and now she was paying the price. Here were her critical errors, first don't wake up brothers in a bed together, secondly don't wake up crab fishermen brothers in a bed together, and thirdly if one fails to avoid errors one and two always have an escape plan.

Phil arrived on scene just in time to see Tess toss the last biscuit and reach blindly for something else to throw. The kitchen looked like an epic battle had been waged and lost within it's walls. Phil glanced at Freddie and realized why the blanket was in Jake's hand.

"What's going on down here guys? We are guests in this house and you are terrorizing our hostess." barked Phil. The boys immediately stepped back. Jake turned to his dad and noticed the smirk on his face.

"Well Josh, I think we found the culprit of the blanket right here." Jake advanced a little towards Phil then thought better of it. It was as if all the puzzle pieces had suddenly fallen into place. Tess was passed out when he and Josh had gone to bed. After the nightmare had woken them up they'd gone right back to bed and used the same blanket that had been on the bed. Tess wouldn't have reacted so strongly if she had put it on the bed herself. That left only one person responsible. Their own dad had covered them with a princess blanket. Suddenly Freddie's laughter seemed a little too strange. Jake looked down at the phone resting on the table, staring back at him was a picture of him and Josh cuddled together under a princess blanket. Jake realized that his dad had taken photos of them and sent them to Freddie and who knows who else.

"Oh my God! You took pictures of us? Who else did you send them too?" Jake screamed at his dad.

"What are you talking about Jake? Pictures?!" yelled Josh. Jake grabbed the phone off the table before Freddie could snatch it back and tossed it to Josh.

Tess took this opportunity to collect the biscuits into a bowl and start cooking up the eggs. It seemed like everyone would need a proper breakfast if they were going to start killing each other later.

"Let me explain." said Phil. "you guys both passed out on the bed in the extra room, I looked around for an extra blanket and couldn't find one, so I used the one from Stella's bed. I didn't want you two catching a cold. "

"Explain the picture?" spat Jake through gritted teeth.

"Yes that, you guys looked so cute together. And I needed to send a note to Murray and Freddie to make sure they knew where we were and didn't get worried. So I included the picture. Think of this as payback for running up my credit card bills." Phil replied evenly.

Just as a retort was forming in Jake's mind, Tess put breakfast on the table. It was quite a spread, bacon, eggs, biscuits, gravy a wide variety of jams and jellies and some oatmeal. The tension from the room evaporated as they ate. Once the meal was finished and the dishes stacked in the sink the guys collected their stuff from upstairs and headed back to the boat. Tess leaned against the door after she closed it a secret smile on her face.


	5. Part 5

**Author Note: I'm just getting rid of the numbered chapters, I'm just going to try page break lines instead.*

Tess leaned against the door reminiscing on her morning.

She'd come out of the shower expecting to see Phil waiting to speak to her. To her surprise he was laying down with his head on her pillow as she approached she realized that he was fast asleep. Tess took a moment to study him, in sleep all the worry lines around his eyes and mouth seemed to disappear. She saw that his arms were covered with gooseflesh. He was cold. Without thinking she went into Stella's room and pulled the green throw blanket off the rocking chair. She draped it over Phil and tucked him in snugly. She leaned down and kissed him gently on the lips then again not so gently. Sometime during the second kiss she thought she heard a moan, not wanting to be caught molesting him while he was asleep she stopped. She chanced a glance down into Phil's sleeping visage and saw that a smile was now on his lips. With a ridiculously big grin on her face Tess all but floated down the stairs to make breakfast.

The sound of a truck driving down the street broke Tess from her daydreaming. With a sigh she started to walk into the kitchen to clean up, she stopped noticing the hall mirror was askew. She straightened it wondering how on earth that happened. Stepping back to double check it was level she stepped on the certified envelope that was still on the floor. As she picked it up she noticed it was covered with boot prints. Carrying it into the kitchen she poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table to open the letter.

She tore open the envelope and pulled out a huge stack of legal looking documents. She found the cover letter and began reading. It was a notice that Eric's family was petitioning the courts for partial custody of Stella. It was a most absurd request even the letter from the law firm seemed to discount the chance of winning. Just as she was about to toss the entire packet in the trash she noticed a hand written note.

Tessora,

I'm sorry that we've had to go to such great lengths to reach you. We will of course drop the petition to the court as soon as we get regular visits with our Stella. We know a lot about your life and your past, it could be brought up in court and could show you as an unfit mother. We'd hate to ruin your new life wherever it has become. The personal investigator tells me that you are in the middle of nowhere and that Stella seems to be in fine condition. However she is not just yours, she is a part of Eric and he would want her with us. Your behavior over the past year has been selfish and self serving. You've had your fun now come home. We want our Stella back and will do everything in our power to bring her back where she belongs.

With God's Love,

Eleanor

Tess didn't know what to do. Her first instinct was to tear up the papers, pack up their belongings and pick up Stella on the way out of town. She stopped and thought of all the moving she and Stella had done over the past year. They'd never stayed anywhere more than a month or so. She had been so careful, she'd never given anything but her permanent address in San Diego, she'd never written to anyone the whole time she was traveling. She checked her email but never responded to any of them. If Kristen had any news about mail she received at the San Diego house she would just send an email and Tess would take care of it. She had been so careful, so very careful to avoid contact with her old life. Tess thought about Stella. She knew the past year had been a whirlwind for the little girl, but she'd done her best to make sure she had her special objects from home. Stella never slept without her Ariel doll or her princess blanket and she always carried the photo album with the pictures of her family. When Stella had seen her room in this house she'd been over the moon. She'd specifically asked if it would be her room forever. Tess response had been an enthusiastic maybe. Now her new life was in jeopardy because of her in laws.

The memories of the why she left seemed to come flooding back in a torrent. It had been a few days after the funeral, she was still receiving condolence cards in the mail. She'd done her best to keep up on her thank you cards for all those who'd sent flowers, cards and money. She remembered Eleanor coming into the living room while she was writing a thank you card to one of Eric's colleagues.

"I certainly hope that you've decided to stay with us. It will be better for you than being on your own. We will take care of you and Stella. I've taken the initiative and signed her up for the Franklin School. It's very prestigious and she will do well, it's a little pricey but you can certainly afford it now." The way Eleanor had said the last line made Tess shutter. Eric had joined the Navy in order to become a doctor without going into debt. She and Eric had been married the summer after his first year in medical school, and lived in a tiny apartment and shopped on just a few dollars a day for food. They were blissfully happy when he graduated and started receiving more than just a stipend to live on. They'd always been careful with their money, saving and investing where they saw opportunities. Eric's parents on the other hand scoffed at the idea of saving. They refinanced their house in order to throw lavish parties and redecorate rooms, they were all about showing off. Eric wanted to make a difference in the world, he was happy to work for the Navy taking any opportunity to go on humanitarian aid missions. Once Stella was born Eleanor and the family couldn't get enough of her. They called Tess constantly to bring her up to meet absolutely everyone they knew. The new pastor for the church or a new higher up at the company is coming for dinner please bring Stella. Tess and Stella were constantly at Eleanor's beck and call. Moving abroad had provided their young family with a lot of wonderful breathing room. That day when Eleanor mentioned Tess and Stella moving in with them, Tess knew she had to leave. She'd gotten use to the independence, the distance and she wasn't going to give it up.

Back in the present Tess realized her breathing room was rapidly getting smaller and would probably soon be nonexistent. They'd found her and now they were planning to bring Stella back into their fold. She cared for Eric's family, she knew they'd lost their son, their son the doctor, their son the medical officer. Eric always had a title, he was never just Eric. They were very proud of him, his brothers and sisters were constantly being compared to him and always seemed to be found lacking. After Stella was born she remembered his sister saying that it would be impossible to have a baby as cute or as well behaved so she was never going to get married. The pressure to beat Eric at something seemed to be constantly on his siblings mind. Tess didn't want Stella to feel that kind of pressure.

Tess finally decided that she was going to have to do something drastic. But before she did that she needed to pick up Stella.

***************

Before Tess even got a word out Margie could tell something was wrong. She hustled Tess over to the table and handed her a cup of tea and set a plate of cookies down between them. Stella was fast asleep on the couch giving the women a few minutes to talk. Tess blurted out the entire story without pausing. Margie was stunned, here was this nice girl who just wanted some peace but couldn't seem to find it.

"What will you do?" asked Margie.

"The first thing I'm going to do is call my mother." replied Tess.

"I'm sure she will be helpful, mother's often are." said Margie.

"I hope so, we don't really talk all that often. It's hard to get her on the phone, she's always flitting from one place to another seeing specialists." said Tess dryly.

"Is she sick?"

"I don't really know, she suffers from what she calls a serious case of nerves. She sees doctors all over the world for treatments. Yoga retreats in Costa Rica, shock treatments in Switzerland, and her current hang out is Greece for some sort of sea salt therapy. "

"Wow, I wouldn't mind getting sea salt therapy." said Margie.

"I'm not sure what they do to her with the sea salt, so you might not want to sign up for it without getting all the details. She once did a treatment that required a barium enema twice a day."

Margie paled slightly. The woman sounded like a complete nut case.

"Maybe you should talk to a lawyer first, before you call your mom." suggested Margie.

"I don't know, I'd really hate to start something with Eric's family. They are a vindictive bunch and I'm sure they have a lot of ammunition to use against me. I wish one of his siblings would just get married and have a baby, maybe that would leave me and Stella off their radar. I was just getting use to everything here. I'm happy here, I don't want to go back to being unhappy. Tears were shinning in Tess' eyes after she finished speaking.

Margie felt for the woman, this was a complicated situation. However, she felt she didn't have all the details in order to suggest a course of action and probably wouldn't get them. Tess was a private woman who held her secrets tight. Margie only hoped that Tess wouldn't be dragged to despair because she wouldn't share her burden.

Stella woke a few minutes later. After a fortifying snack of a cookie and some milk Stella and Tess walked towards home.

**************

Phil was standing in the engine room with Murray looking at the starboard main engine. They were doing a final systems check and Murray had a list of parts that he'd like to replace before the boat left port. Phil was just approving the last of them before he called it a day. He'd had a great night with Tess, even if it did involve her passing out and his boys attempting to kill her in her own kitchen. She was the kind of woman he'd heard others talk about but had never personally met. She had a wicked sense of humor, was intelligent, a great cook, and wore ridiculously sexy underwear. She was a complete package, she even had the bonus of an adorable daughter. Phil still felt that she needed some space; time to work through her grief, the nightmares and it seemed like she was tackling some sort of depression if the pill bottles were to be believed. He'd read through them while the boys were getting dressed after breakfast. Some bottles seemed completely unused while others had been refilled five or six times. He'd wished he carried a pad of paper around with him, he wanted to write the names of the medications down and look them up to see what they treated. His musings were interrupted by a nudge from Murray, signaling that he was all done and Phil could kill the engine.

Back in the wheelhouse Phil looked down on deck watching the crew loading in the frozen bait. He wondered how the season would go. He hoped it would be a quick trip so he wouldn't be away from Tess for too long. He shook his head, where had that thought come from? He really needed to get his head out of the clouds. He'd just met the woman, he had no proof that she was even interested in him. Although, she had almost kissed him outside the Elbow Room and he'd had a wonderful dream about her kissing him this morning. He hoisted himself out of the chair, he needed to clear his head and regain his focus on the season ahead.

With a quick shout to the crew that he was leaving the boat he started briskly walking off the docks.

***************

The Northwestern was moored just a few hundred feet from the Cornelia Marie. Phil decided to stop in and see if Sig was available for a chat. As Phil approached Edgar shouted for Phil to come aboard. Once on deck Phil was immediately led into the galley where Sig was seated at the table. After a quick greeting Sig got right down to business.

"How's Tess?"

Phil told Sig and the rest of the crew about his evening, he refrained from mentioning her underwear. The entire table was roaring with laughter when Phil pulled out his phone to show them the picture of Jake and Josh under the princess blanket. Once the story had reached it's conclusion the room took on a decidedly frosty feel. "So, what's the deal with you and Tess?" asked Matt

"We are friends." replied Phil. He didn't like where this conversation was going and was damn sure that his feelings towards Tess were no ones business but his own.

"You must be more than friends, she's told you about her past, has gotten drunk in a bar with you and let you sleep in her bed in the span of a few days." said Edgar "We've known her for two months and didn't find out anything. What have you been doing that we haven't?"

"Honestly fellas I have no idea. And for the record she really didn't let me sleep in her bed she was passed out at the time and I just wanted to make sure she didn't get sick during the night." said Phil. "If this interrogation is over I think I'm going to head over to the Elbow Room for a drink."

While the group was filing out of the galley Matt stretched his sweatshirt moving to reveal Stella's good luck charm.

"Matt, what the hell are you wearing on your wrist?" barked Sig.

"Yeah, did you get it at the Hannah Montana concert?" teased Jake.

"Kid, how do you even know who Hannah Montana is? You don't have kids? Are you watching the Disney channel on your time off?" chided Edgar.

Jake scowled, gave Edgar the finger and walked out onto the deck.

"So Matt, where did you get it?" asked Norman.

"For your information, Stella made it for me. It's a good luck bracelet to keep me safe." he said proudly. "She's making them for everyone, but I got mine early because I was helping her make them."

The seconds the words had left his mouth he knew he'd made a terrible mistake.

"I let you off the boat to help Meg out and you spent the afternoon making luck bracelets?" asked Sig incredulously.

"Dude, I was babysitting. It's what Stella wanted to do and I did it. You can ride me all you want about it but I was happy to help her. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to do something very very manly. Matt walked into his stateroom and shut the door. Even with the door closed he could still hear the laughter coming from the galley.

"I hope he's telling the truth and we all get one." said Nick

************************

Tess and Stella walked into the house, hung their jackets on the coat hooks next to the door and placed their boots below them. Before Tess could unwrap her scarf Stella scampered up to her room then thundered back down an ominous look on her face.

"What is it honey?" asked Tess concern lacing her voice.

"Where is my blanket? said Stella, she seemed to be on the verge of tears.

"Oh. It's down here I was going to wash it. Jake and Josh used it last night." replied Tess.

"Why? Did you have a sleepover without me?" asked Stella.

"Kind of, but it wasn't planned because had we planned it we would have invited you." Tess was scrambling to think of an explanation as to why the boys had stayed the night without telling Stella the complete truth.

Fortunately Stella seemed to only be interest in the state of her things, once she had determined that no one had actually slept in her bed or played with her toys she let the topic go. Tess tossed the blanket in the washer to make sure it was clean and smelling fresh before bedtime.

The girls had a quiet night at home. They ate some chicken chili and watched Sleeping Beauty. Stella organized all of her good luck bracelets and planned to go with her mom to deliver them tomorrow. Tess was impressed that she'd actually made so many. Matt had told her that there were 80 boats in the fleet and from the pile on the table it seemed like Stella had made enough for all of them. Stella was organizing them by boats asking Tess to write the names of the boats on the outside of the plastic bags. A little after 8 they headed up for bath and bed.

Once Stella was dressed for bed she grabbed a book and climbed into her mother's lap. They started their nightly routine of reading a story in the rocking chair then saying their prayers together. Stella got comfy and handed her mom the book. Tess had barely finished the first page when Stella asked for the green blanket. Tess reached back to get it and realized that it was still on her bed. She got up to retrieve it and got Stella resettled to finish the story.

"The blanket smells different."

"You're right it does. I let captain Phil use it last night because he was cold. I can wash it tomorrow." said Tess with a sigh. Stella had the nose of a bloodhound.

"You don't have to, it smells nice." said Stella in a tired voice. She was completely wrapped up the blanket and seemed to have her nose buried in it inhaling deeply. Stella was asleep before the story was over. Tess tucked her into bed, under her freshly washed princess blanket. Once her Ariel doll was safely ensconced in her arms Stella smiled and rolled over.

Tess walked into her room dropping the blanket on her bed and headed into the bathroom to brush her teeth. Finished with her evening abolitions she walked back into her room and got into bed. She pulled the green blanket up to her face and inhaled it's scent. It smelled just like Phil, she lay back swathing the blanket around her and for the first time in months she slept through the night without having the nightmare.


	6. Part 6

Phil entered the Elbow Room and immediately spotted the crew of the Time Bandit. He grabbed a drink at the bar and went to join them.

"Phil, how goes it?" asked Jonathan. "I must say I was hung over as hell this morning. Did Tess survive?"

"Yeah, she was definitely feeling no pain when she walked out of here with you." added Andy.

Phil just smiled then filled the guys in on his walk to Tess' house and the rest of the nights events. He'd just put away his phone after showing them the pictures of Jake and Josh when the boys entered the bar. They glanced in his direction, saw the Time Bandit crew laughing and immediately headed to the bar.

"Well gentlemen, I think I'm going to have to buy my boys a drink to help ease the pain of embarrassment." With that Phil got up and headed towards the bar.

When he arrived the boys were deep in conversation with Margie and Meg. The serious looks on their faces told Phil it was something big. He was just able to make out the tail end of what Margie said.

"...and then the note ends with them threatening to take her away by any means possible. The girl was at loose ends when she left my house."

"Who are you guys talking about?" asked Phil. One look from the boys told him exactly who they were talking about. "What's going on with Tess?"

Margie told him about the letter Tess had received. Phil felt terrible for Tess, but he could also understand that Stella's grandparents wanted time with her too. He wondered what she was going to decide, if she'd stay or go. Phil's thoughts were interrupted when Margie started to speak.

"You know I think I saw that private investigator here a few weeks ago. He said he'd just come from Seattle and was looking for his niece. He showed me a picture but I didn't recognize the woman, it certainly didn't look like Tess. Nothing he said made me suspicious in the least. I feel terrible, I may have given her away."

said Margie sadly.

"Oh Margie, that guy probably just stayed outside the post office until he saw her. The picture was probably bogus, he just wanted to give you a reason why he was hanging around. There was nothing you could do, he didn't give you any reason to think he was after Tess and you didn't know anything about her past to think she was escaping something." concluded Jake.

Phil was impressed by Jake's reasoning, everything he said made perfect sense. The guy would just have to see her then follow her to where she lived. Keeping anyone under surveillance here was pretty easy as long as they weren't on a boat.

"I knew she must be running from something" said Margie quietly. "I knew the moment she came into the post office to get her PO box. She didn't have to say a word it was written on her face, the way she dealt with paying for the box in cash and asking if she was required to give a phone number. I knew she didn't want someone to find her, I just didn't know who." Margie sat dejectedly at the bar staring into her drink.

Phil finished his drink and left the bar heading back to the Cornelia Marie. Jake and Josh followed a few hours later and found Phil sitting in the wheelhouse staring out the front windows, he didn't seem to notice their arrival.

"Dad, are you ok?" asked Josh.

Phil started. "Sorry I didn't hear you guys come up. I'm fine, just thinking about the season."

Jake and Josh shared a look that clearly said they didn't believe a word he was saying.

Phil sighed and said "fine, I was thinking about Tess wondering what she's going to do."

They lapsed into silence each thinking what they would do if they were in the same situation. Realizing that no answer seemed to be apparent they all went down stairs and into their respective staterooms. All three Harris' slept poorly, each dreaming of what would happen to Tess.

* * *

Monday dawned clear and unseasonably warm for Dutch Harbor. All across the docks the crews were working in short sleeve shirts enjoying the pleasant weather. The season would officially start the following Friday and the boats were buzzing with activity. Tess and Stella were dressed for the warmer temperatures, they walked along the docks delivering the good luck bracelets and finalizing the fresh food orders for the boats. The previous night Tess realized the next 10 days would be the last days she'd be able to see the guys before the boats headed out to sea. She decided to have each of the crews over for a special dinner. Stella had immediately told her that the Northwestern's crew needed to be first. Stella had even made an invitation for the boat complete with princess stickers and her drawings of each of the men. Tess thought it was wonderful, her favorite thing about the invite were the way Tess drew each of the guys. Sig was wearing a crown because according to Stella he was the king of the boat, Matt was wearing a chefs hat, Edgar had something that was on fire, Norman was riding on the crane, Nick had a fishing pole dangling over the rail and Jake looked like a fish. Tess couldn't wait to see the guys reactions to it, especially Sig's. As they approached the deck they saw Norman and Edgar pulling coils of rope out of one of the crab tanks. Stella immediately started running towards yelling at Edgar to catch her. Edgar dropped the coil he was holding back into the hold and rushed over to the rail; arriving just in time to catch Stella as she launched herself from the dock into his outstretched arms. Tess let out the breath she'd been holding and for a brief second the realization of how dangerous that jump had been threatened to overcome her.

Norman appeared on deck below where Tess was standing. "It's cool if you want to jump too, I won't let you fall."

"Um thanks for the offer but I think I'll just step down like I normally do." replied Tess her voice still slightly uneven.

Once on the deck Tess noticed Edgar giving Stella a lecture on what she'd just done. Stella's upturned face was streaked with tears and she was nodding continuously. Once the lecture was over Edgar leaned down and gave her a hug, then scooped her up and carried her towards the wheelhouse. Matt and Nick had climbed out of the crab tank and joined everyone in the galley. Only Sig and Jake were missing, but soon Sig appeared from the wheelhouse then Jake, hair still dripping, out of the bathroom.

"Wow, I'm glad I showered, I didn't know we were having company." exclaimed Jake as he sat down .

Stella handed her invitation to Sig, explaining it was for the boat but since he was king he should receive the missive. Sig's eyes lit up as he looked at the invitation he took several minutes to study the way Stella had drawn his crew. He passed the invitation around and all the guys admired their portraits. Jake was the last to see it and his eyes immediately clouded with confusion. "Stella why am I a fish?" he asked.

"You are a cod, because Edgar calls you the master baiter." she replied calmly.

Everyone froze their eyes shifting between Stella and Tess, waiting to see if either realized what had just been said. Edgar sheepishly looked at Tess and mouthed 'sorry'. Tess gave Edgar her best glare and then shrugged her shoulders. Then everyone broke into laughter, everyone except for Stella who demanded to know what was so funny.

"Stella, I'm sure Edgar will explain it to you in a sensitive and mature way when you get older." said Tess.

"He doesn't know the definition of sensitive or mature, so don't hold your breath." joked Sig.

Once everyone had calmed down Stella handed out her good luck charms. All the guys put them on, comparing bracelet colors and which charm Stella had chosen for them.

"This crew is getting softer and softer." muttered Sig.

Tess and Stella bid goodbye to the Northwestern with the promise that each member of the crew would be attending dinner the following night. Stella was thrilled and promised a complete tour of her room when they arrived. As they walked home Tess mentally wrote a shopping list calculating how much food she'd need to make to feed 6 hungry crab fishermen. As she approached her house she noticed someone was standing on her step trying to look into her front window. Immediately she tensed, a million things flashed through her mind all of them worse than the next. Then the figure turned. Tess immediately pushed Stella behind her to shield her from view. The man or woman merely walked up the street away from where Tess and Stella were standing without even looking back. Tess stood frozen on the sidewalk across from her house for another 20 minutes, she was scared to move. Finally Stella announcing that she hungry snapped Tess into action.

* * *

Tess walked into the house and quickly gave Stella a snack and settled her in front of the TV. Tess was completely shocked, she'd just read the letter from Eleanor yesterday and now someone was in Dutch looking for her. She quickly closed all the blinds around the house and double checked all the windows and doors were bolted. She took a few deep calming breaths, she didn't even know who it was, it could have been someone she already knew but just didn't recognize, a hysterical laugh bubbled out of her. Tess knew one thing, she needed to keep a level head if only for Stella's sake. She'd think about it later, after Stella went to bed.

Tess made dinner for herself and Stella, during grace the phone rang. Tess sat frozen then watched in shock as Stella got up from her chair and answered it.

"Hello? [pause] Hi Meg! Yes my mommy is right here." Stella handed Tess the phone.

"Hi Meg." said Tess sounding only slightly hysterical. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to let you know that every guy down here seems to be sporting some new jewelry with the exception of a few boats. I was just calling on their behalf to confirm that they hadn't been left out. In fact one boat was so disappointed that I think they may be heading over to your house right now. I just wanted to give you the heads up." said Meg.

"Thanks for letting me know. And tell those other patient boats that we are saving the best for last."

Tess hung up the phone and walked over to the fridge to check out her food supply, if crabbers were coming over they'd probably want to eat something.

Just as Stella was putting her dishes in the sink their was a knock at the door.

Stella bounded to the door swinging it open and greeting their guest.

"Uncle Ethan!" yelled Stella.

Tess dropped the dish she was holding in her hands. It was her brother in law, he was in Alaska, at her front door with her daughter.

"Hi Silly Stella! I can't believe you still remember what I look like, it's been so long since I've seen you." the voice drifted into the kitchen.

Tess left the broken plate of the floor and headed to the front door. She felt like she was walking towards her execution.

"What are you doing here Ethan?" Tess asked coldly.

"Where have your manners gone Tessora it's rude to speak to people on doorsteps." sneered Ethan as he stepped into the house not bothering to close the door.

"It's rude to enter someone's house uninvited." spat Tess.

"Listen this is probably paid for by my brother's death, so I have every right to be here. Besides you don't even know what I want." replied Ethan evenly.

"I don't think I care to know. Just leave." said Tess.

Stella watched the tennis match of insults that were flying over her head. Hearing that her mother wanted Ethan to leave caused her to take a step away from her uncle. Sensing the movement Ethan quickly grabbed her shoulder.

"Where are you going Stella? I've missed you so much! You've grown into a perfect little girl." said Ethan. He practically spat out the word perfect. Stella was starting to get scared, her tugging became fierce as she tried to fee herself from her uncle's grasp.

"For God sakes Ethan let her go, you're scaring her." yelled Tess. Ethan continued to hold Stella's arm, moving her farther into the house, ignoring her struggling.

"Come on Stella show me all your toys." Ethan said with a sing song voice. "Come along Tessora, you don't want to miss out."

Tess was panicking. She wanted Ethan out of her house. She started to close the door and then thought better of it. Meg said one of the crews was coming to see her, maybe they would get here soon. She walked towards the living room leaving the front door wide open.

The scene in the living room was horrifying. Stella was huddled on the couch crying and holding her cheek as if she'd been hit. Scattered all over the floor were her good luck charms. Ethan was still attempting to break the offending items while yelling at Stella.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?! You can't come in here and destroy things and yell at my daughter." screamed Tess.

"Oh but I think I can, you see she's part of Eric and Eric belonged to my family therefore Stella belongs to me just like Eric did." Ethan was taking on a psychotic quality and Tess was getting more scared by the minute.

"What are you talking about? Why are you even here?" Tess asked shakily.

"I'll happily tell you if you would sit down like a calm rational adult." said Ethan, sounding neither calm nor rational.

Tess rushed over to Stella and pulled her into her lap. She hugged her and reassured her that she would protect her no matter what. Stella quieted enough for Tess to tell Ethan to continue.

"You see, we've found you. Specifically mummy found you. She's been after you since the day you left. You were suppose to stay with us, be a part of our family forever. Mummy's known where you've been the whole time. The moment you left the house she had someone trail you. She was waiting for you to come to your senses and come back home. But when you moved here and got a job she realized you weren't coming back, and that posed a problem. You see we don't give a shit about you, we are only interested in her." Ethan was pointed menacingly at Stella. "She is the perfect ones spawn and therefore she belongs to us. When I saw mummy's report from the investigator I saw a great opportunity. I could be the hero, I could bring her home. So, this is how it's going to work. Since you seem to be somewhat happy here you can stay and I'll take Stella with me." Ethan finished eagerly.

"You're crazy, I won't let you take her." said Tess. Stella had started crying harder and Tess tried not to raise her voice.

"Why can't you ever do things the easy way. Fine. I also made a contingency plan in case you proved to be difficult. I suggest you send Stella up to her room, we wouldn't want anything to happen to her." Ethan said menacingly.

Suddenly Tess realized he was going to kill her and that if she didn't get Stella out of the room he might kill her too.

Ethan suddenly continued. "You see it doesn't really matter if you are alive or dead or even if Stella survives. It will of course be a tragedy and we will morn. Perhaps we will even take a year off from life and travel the world to grieve." Ethan gave Tess a pointed look then continued. "With you and Stella gone we will finally be free of Eric's perfect shadow. His legacy will be gone and we will be free."

"Ethan we left, we haven't written or called or made contact of any kind. What more do you want?" cried Tess.

"Ah but even if you are out of sight you are not out of mind. Mother knows where you are all the time, she still has something to point to, to compare us to. But if you're dead it will be a mute point, all comparisons will be with dead people. Those comparisons are easily overcome." stated Ethan evenly. "Last offer, send Stella to her room now or you will both be dying tonight."

"Fine." said Tess. She leaned over Stella and whispered in her ear. "Run out the front door, head towards Meg at the Bar, if you see anyone you know tell them you need help. Don't look back. I love you so much you are the best thing I've ever done in my life." by the time Tess finished both she and Stella were crying.

Stella stood quietly turning back to her mom she nodded walked slowly past Ethan and once she was in the hall bolted out the door and towards the Elbow Room.

* * *

Andy, Jonathan and a few of the crew of Time Bandit had just turned onto Tess' street when they saw a small blur heading their way.

"What the hell?" said Andy as he recognized Stella running down the street with no jacket or shoes on. He quickly knelt down to intercept her.

"You have to save mommy! Uncle Ethan is going to hurt her!" screamed Stella. Adrenaline was coursing through her little body and she was starting to shake violently.

Jonathon immediately started barking out orders. "Andy, take care of her. Take her back to the bar she's not dressed to be out in this weather."

"Mike, call the cops."

"Eddie, lets go."

With that the whole group left, with Andy heading back the way he came and the other three sprinting towards Tess' house. Mike had the emergency services on the phone when they entered the house through Tess' front door. It was deathly quiet and for a minute the guys thought they were too late. Then a muffled scream came from upstairs followed immediately by a maniacal laugh. The guys ran up the stairs following the noise.

The scene in the bedroom looked like something out of the Shinning. Ethan was at the bathroom door using a cleaver from Tess' knife block to try and hack through the door. Tess was screaming for him to stop from the other side of the door. Ethan was laughing hysterically and with a final running swing managed to break into the bathroom. His momentum propelled him through the door and onto the bathmat he narrowly missed hitting his head on the pedestal sink. Tess took this opportunity to jump out from behind the door and run out of the bathroom. She had just made it past the threshold when she spotted Jonathon and Eddie in the doorway of her bedroom. Ethan took her momentary distraction to grab her ankle, pulling her back into the bathroom. Tess screamed and kicked as hard as she could, catching Ethan in the nose. She felt the bone give way with a satisfying crack and he suddenly let go of her ankle. She scrambled out of the bathroom and straight into Jonathon's arms. He held her, stroking her hair and telling her that everything was going to be fine. Mike appeared in the bedroom with 2 of Dutch Harbors finest in tow. Eddie led them over to the bathroom where Ethan was still on the floor apparently unconscious, blood pouring from his nose and the back of his head where it had hit the pedestal sink.

The EMT's came up to the bedroom and checked over Tess before putting Ethan on a stretcher and taking him downstairs. Before he was put in the back of the ambulance the cops made sure to handcuff him to the gurney. Tess needed to go to the hospital, she was covered in small cuts where Ethan had tried to stab her. Jonathan rode in the ambulance with her to the hospital. While a paramedic took her vital signs and placed the oxygen mask over her mouth Jonathon told her how Stella had run up to them in the street and told them what was going on. He also reassured her that she was safe with Andy and Meg at the Elbow Room. Tess looked distressed and the machines that were monitoring her vitals started to beep. Realizing where her concern lay Jonathan dialed Andy's cell. Telling Tess not to worry, that he was calling Andy to tell him to bring Stella to her. Hearing those words allowed Tess to close her eyes letting the blackness that had been sitting at the edges of her vision blind her.

* * *

Andy was sitting in the Elbow Room surrounded by the every one of the bars patrons waiting to hear news about Tess. He'd arrived at the bar moments after leaving Jonathon and the others, he'd sprinted the entire way. He burst into the room holding a hysterical Stella yelling for Meg to call the cops. Phil was the first one out of his seat, he removed Stella from Andy's arms. It seemed as if Stella was about to struggle then she took in a lung full of air and settled into Phil's arms as if it were the most natural place in the world. Phil hid his surprise by giving the little girl a hug and little kiss on her forehead.

Andy filled in everyone on what had taken place. As Meg was on the phone with Emergency Services she was told that the situation was under control, that the perpetrator had been taken into custody and the scene was secured. Meg asked if anyone was injured, the operator told her both victim and suspect were being transported to the clinic for injuries sustained during the assault. Just then Andy's phone rang.

"It's Jonathon." he announced to the bar as he flipped open the phone. "Is she ok? [pause] Yes, we'll bring her now." Andy closed the phone. Scanning the room for Phil he spotted him holding a sleeping Stella in his arms. "Phil, let's go. Jonathon says Tess seems to be in shock and she's desperate to see Stella."

Phil's only response was to get up and head for the coat rack. Josh took Stella for a moment so Phil could put on his coat, she immediately started whimpering in her sleep, Phil took her back and she quieted. Meg met Phil at the door and tossed a blanket over Stella for the ride to the hospital. It took them less than 10 minutes to reach the clinic, both men praying that everything would be ok.

Back at the Elbow Room Meg offered a free round on the house to those still in the bar. Once the drinks were served she noticed Jake and Josh were sitting at the bar.

"You guys ok?" asked Meg.

"Yeah. Just a little shocked about what just happened." said Josh.

"Yeah me too." replied Meg.

Josh was pretty sure that he and Meg were talking about two different things. He was shocked at his dad's reaction when Andy burst into the bar. His dad had immediately taken Stella from Andy and Stella had just let him hold her, then later Stella whimpered when Josh had held her, but settled right down when she was back in his dad's arms. It was perplexing, Phil had only met Stella once that Josh knew of and yet she was completely comforted by him.

* * *

Tess felt as if she was floating on a cloud. Her whole body felt lighter than air and her mind was blissfully empty. She took a deep breath and immediately recognized a familiar scent next to her. She turned her head and inhaled again letting the scent penetrate the very fibers of her being.

"Good Morning Phil" she murmured to her right. "Hey Tess. It's good to here your voice." said Phil from her left.

Confused Tess opened her eyes and realized that Stella was laying next to her in the hospital bed and Phil was seated in the chair next to the bed. She smiled slightly as she realized that Phil must have been holding Stella at some point during the night and that she had absorbed his scent.

"I hope you don't mind that I put her in there with you, but my arms were starting to get a little achy." said Phil quietly.

Tess shook her head. She was elated to see that Stella was ok. She glanced down at the bandages covering her arms and the realization of how close she came to dying threatened to send her back into unconsciousness. Tess turned to face Phil and flinched slightly.

"You probably shouldn't move too much, he got you pretty good across your left side, they had to put in a couple of stitches. remarked Phil. "The doctors said you must have fought really hard to stay away from the knife because that was the only cut that required stitches."

"Where is Ethan?" asked Tess warily.

"He's been treated and taken into custody. His nose will require surgery, but they will wait until after his jail time to fix it." Phil paused for a moment before asking his question. "So last night at the bar, Andy came in carrying Stella, I took her out of Andy's arms so he could catch his breath and she didn't want to leave my arms for the rest of the night. When Josh took her so I could put on my coat she got upset. Any idea why?"

"The green blanket. The one I covered you with when you stayed with me. That's our special story time blanket. Anyway, I forgot to wash it after you used it, Stella said I shouldn't because she liked the way it smelled. I guess she just recognized your smell last night when you held her and felt safe."

Stella started to stir, Tess gathered her up in her arms and waited for Stella to open her eyes fully. Once she did and saw that her mommy was holding her she hugged Tess tightly scrunching her face into the side of Tess' neck. Tess let the tears of relief pour down her cheeks, she and Stella were ok.

Phil cleared his throat and made his way towards the door. Stella immediately jumped off the bed and ran to him. Without a second thought he picked her up and hugged her. Stella whispered her thanks in his ear. Phil nodded as he set her back on the bed with her mom. Then leaned down and gave Tess a soft kiss on the cheek before walking out the door.

Tess placed her hand on the cheek Phil had kissed. She could feel herself blushing and giddy butterflies were flying around in her stomach.

"I think he's nice." announced Stella.

"Me too" replied Tess.


	7. Part 7

Tess spent the remainder of the day at the clinic. The doctors checked her and Stella over for any injuries and both were given clean bills of health. Tess would need to return to the clinic in a few days to have the stitches removed. One of the nurses had offered to call someone to bring Tess some clothes to change into for the trip home, the clothes she arrived in had been taken as evidence. Tess immediately gave the nurse Meg's number at the Elbow Room, she had an extra key so she could stop in and pick something up for her without too much trouble.

The police arrived next taking detailed statements from both Tess and Stella. They questioned both of them separately, Tess insisted on having a nurse in the room with Stella to act as an advocate. When they were finished interviewing Stella, the nurse took her to the nurses station for a snack.

The room was empty except for Tess, the two deputies that had been first on the scene and a detective who'd been flown in from Anchorage. She told them about everything, the letters, seeing the stranger on her doorstep and finally Ethan showing up at the house demanding Stella return to California with him, her refusal and his attack. The detective looked rather uncomfortable when the story was finished. He'd been asked to come up to handle the case because the suspect was claiming that he was simply defending himself from a jealous family member. Ethan had made it sound like Tess was the instigator of the whole situation. However, Tess and Stella told the exact same story; Ethan had threatened to kill both of them and then had let Stella leave the room. Stella had run outside and met some crabbers that were coming down the street to Tess' house. The fisherman had told the detective what Stella had said and that she wasn't wearing shoes or a coat when they found her. They'd also told him in detail of the situation they'd walked in on in the upstairs bedroom. It seemed as if Ethan was in fact the aggressor and had meant to kill Tess. Ethan had already posted the bail money and was being escorted back to LA by his family's private attorney on the evening flight. The deputies had Ethan slapped with a restraining order which required him to stay out of the state of Alaska and away from Tess and Stella. The detective hoped that this would be an open and shut case.

Once the interviews with the police were over Tess and Stella spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in the clinic waiting room watching TV with the nurses.

* * *

Meg had received the call from the clinic nurse and immediately went over to pick up some clothes for Tess. She walked into the house and looked around, it was a mess. The police had left only hours before and the house was covered with black print dust. Meg went upstairs and gasped in horror, Tess' bedroom was a disaster. The door to the bathroom was gone, as was the bathmat, the entire room was covered in fingerprint dust and the bed was stripped on the sheets. As Meg peered farther into the bathroom she saw that there was still blood on the floor. She took a moment to wonder who it belonged to. She looked up, willing the tears to clear from her eyes; she'd almost lost her very friend last night because of whatever happened in this bathroom.

Meg realized that Tess and Stella couldn't return to the house in this condition. She would need to call in the reserves. Walking downstairs she flipped open her phone and started dialing.

"Margie, It's Meg. Listen Tess' house is a disaster. I was wondering if you could round up the troops and see if they are available to help. I'm suppose to take her some clothes at the hospital so she has something to wear home, but I'm going to wait until this place gets cleaned up."

"Meg honey consider it done." replied Margie. Both woman hung up and immediately dialed again.

Within 20 minutes Margie had arrived with a crate full of cleaning supplies. A few minutes later the calls from the crews of the Time Bandit, Cornelia Marie, and Northwestern started coming in. All the crews wanted to know what needed to be fixed or cleaned. Meg divided out the jobs and soon everyone was working to put Tess' house back together.

* * *

Phil felt as if his head had barely touched the pillow when there was a knock at his stateroom door. He was about to tell whoever it was to go to hell when he remembered he'd asked to be called if there was any news about Tess.

"Come in" said Phil groggily.

"Hey Man," said Murray gently "I'm sorry to wake you, but I just got a call from Margie." On hearing this Phil shot up in bed. "No need to get concerned" replied Murray "Tess and Stella are fine, still at the hospital but ready to be released. But, their house isn't ready. Margie said it's a mess and she is calling in the troops to help clean it up before Meg picks up Tess."

"Tell Margie we will be right over." said Phil.

"I did, and then I came to wake you up." said Murray a knowing grin spreading across his face.

Phil noticed the look and gave Murray a glare before pushing past him into the bathroom. Murray heard the shower start and he continued to smile as he walked out of the stateroom and down to the galley.

The galley of the Cornelia Marie looked like a troop of monkeys had done a craft project. There was paper cuttings, markers, glue sticks, glitter and stickers all over the table and the floor. In the middle of the table was a huge pink poster board card. Jake and Josh Harris were putting the finishing touches on the card, they'd radioed all the crews first thing this morning to tell them they had a card going for Tess and Stella. Each boat had come over to sign the card, some guys had even used the glitter and markers to draw special pictures. The card looked fantastic, the galley of the Cornelia Marie looked like it would take months to get the glitter out of the carpet.

"Well boys" began Murray, "your dad is up, so you should probably clean up at least part of this mess. I think that once he gets out of the shower he's going to want to head right over to Tess' house. "

The boys both nodded and did their best to stuff all the flotsam into a trash bag. The got about half way finished when Phil appeared in the galley. He looked at the mess, then at the boys, then at the card. The boys were holding their breath.

"Let's go, you can clean up this mess later." said Phil, already moving out the door. "Don't forget the card."

Jake and Josh quickly tossed the trash bag into the corner, grabbed the card and headed out the door with Murray hot on their heels.

* * *

The crew of the Northwestern had already arrived at Tess' house and were currently working on cleaning her kitchen. Jake was cleaning the counter while Edgar was doing the sink full of dishes, Nick and Norman were working on the kitchen floor. Sig and Matt were in the living room picking through the good luck bracelets that were strewn all over the rug.

"I can't believe that jerk would break these. Stella spent so much time on all of them." said Matt.

" These are really beautifully done" said Sig picking up one that was still in one piece "this one didn't get broken. Lets try to keep the ones that are ok together."

Matt nodded and went back to his task. There were far more that were broken than whole, many that could never be salvaged. He'd just found a pile of bead powder where the guy had ground the beads into the carpet so hard they turned to dust.

"Oh my God you guys, look at all this blood." exclaimed Jake as he picked up the knife block, There was a pool on the counter that looked almost black.

"Just clean it up junior." said Edgar still staring at the blood pool. Jake started to clean it up trying to figure out how that much blood had come out of someone without them loosing consciousness. Just looking at it made him feel a little faint.

"This place looks like a scene out of CSI" said Norman.

"I guess it kind of was." replied Nick.

With that thought bouncing around in their brains they got back to work.

Meg was upstairs with Jonathon and Andy. They were standing in Tess' bedroom and Jon was giving them the blow by blow story of what happened, pointing out where specific events actually took place. On the bed were a new set of sheets, bathmat and towels. Mike and Eddie had gone out this morning to buy them for Tess, they'd picked lavender because the lady at the store said it was a calming color. The room had already been cleaned by Blake Painter and the crew of the Maverick. It positively sparkled.

Meg had put Tess and Stella's clothes together in a bag and she was just waiting for the Cornelia Marie crew to show up so she could get the clothes to the hospital. She imagined that Tess and Stella were probably ready to leave. Meg watched as Jonathon and Andy made the bed, short sheeting it as a special welcome home for Tess. She busied herself hanging the towels in the bathroom and putting the new bathmat on the floor. The only thing the bathroom was missing was a door. Meg had thought about hanging a curtain or something but had run out of time. Meg moved on to check that the spare room and Stella's room were still ok. She found Andy and Jonathon in Stella's room looking at her photo album.

"They look like such a happy family." commented Andy. "It's too bad they are apparently all psychos."

"Yeah, but don't you notice that they are always by themselves in the pictures, not with Tess or Stella." remarked Jonathon. "Weird."

Meg cleared her throat and the men quickly put down the album. Jonathon and Andy immediately pretended to be rearranging some of the knick knacks on bookshelf.

"I think were all done up here, lets go downstairs." said Meg evenly.

Andy and Jon nodded and preceded Meg down the stairs.

The crew of the Cornelia Marie arrived a few minutes later to a full house. Meg immediately took Phil aside.

"Can you please go pick up Tess and Stella?" she asked handing Phil the bag of clothes. "They are ready to come home. I'd go but I'm worried about what these guys will do in my absence." As if proving her point there was a crash from somewhere in the kitchen followed by a series of expletives.

"Sure." said Phil with a smile and headed out the door.

* * *

Tess and Stella were attempting to make a tower out of tongue depressors when Phil arrived to pick them up. He didn't announce his presence right away, enjoying a moment to watch them uninhibited. He was struck by how close they were, how well tuned Tess was to Stella's needs, how loving they were to each other. They were truly happy with one another, they didn't seem to need anyone else.

Stella looked up and noticed Phil in the doorway.

"Captain Phil" she exclaimed running towards him. Phil dropped the bag and picked up Stella flinging her into the air before pulling her into a deep hug.

"How are you feeling today Stella?" asked Phil

"Good. I watched Oprah this afternoon with the nurses. She said that the world is falling apart and it's because the failure of the family and greenhouse gasses and nuclear weapons." Stella said seriously.

"That's enough Stella, I doubt Captain Phil cares about Oprah." said Tess.

"Oh mommy everyone cares about Oprah, she could be the president of the world if she wanted to." replied Stella.

"I brought both of you a change of clothes, and don't worry I didn't pick them out." said Phil before more discussions of Oprah could be started. Stella ran to the dropped bag and picked out her clothes, immediately running to her mom to start changing. Phil quickly excused himself saying that he'd wait for the girls in the lobby.

Stella and Tess were changed and out of the room in a matter of minutes. Phil couldn't hide the surprise in his gaze when they appeared so quickly.

"We decided we wanted to take showers at home." said Tess as an explanation.

Phil nodded and led them to the car. Stella carefully took his hand as they stepped off the curb towards the truck. Phil picked her up and placed her in the front of the truck, then helped Tess in, making sure both were wearing their seatbelts before he walked around and got behind the wheel. The drive back to the house took no time at all, no one said anything. Phil glanced over and noticed that Stella had fallen asleep her head cradled against her mom's arm. He smiled at how young and innocent the little girl looked. He looked at Tess, she was facing away from him staring out the window. He wondered what she was thinking about. She turned slightly and Phil noticed that her face looked completely blank. He shrugged it off, it was probably just a trick of the light. Pulling into the front of the house, he helped Tess down then carried Stella into the house.

Phil expected the house to be full to the gills but as he walked in he noticed it was quiet and empty.

* * *

Once in the house Tess immediately motioned for Phil to carry Stella up to her room. It was only 6, but after yesterday Tess was pretty sure the little girl would sleep the rest of the night. As they entered the room Phil sat in the rocking chair while Tess turned down the bed. When Tess reached for Stella she winced, trying to reach her without stretching her injured side. Phil realized that she wasn't going to be able to do it and stood up and placed Stella into bed. Stella opened her eyes briefly when Tess gave her a kiss then leaned towards Phil so he would do the same. Reluctantly Phil gave Stella a small peck on the forehead. Stella smiled and rolled over clutching her Ariel doll to her chest.

Tess pressed her finger to her lips as she closed Stella's door. She then walked into her room stopping just inside the doorway. Phil walked up behind her and peered over her into the room, it looked completely different. Tess moved through the room, running her hand over the new blankets and noticing their wasn't a speck of dust to be seen.

"Did you do all this?" asked Tess tears shinning in her eyes.

"I wish I could take credit for this but it was all Meg. She and Margie called out the troops to make sure you and Stella came home to a presentable house. I believe the new sheets and stuff are courtesy of the Time Bandit and the clean room is thanks to the Maverick.

Tess was deeply touched, the whole crabbing community had come out to help her and Stella.

"They did a really good job, it's cleaner than it's ever been." said Tess.

After a few more circuits of the room Tess went to her bureau and started throwing clothes on the bed. Phil watched her realizing that each drawer was fastidiously organized. He moved over so he could get a closer look at her organization system. He leaned over placing his head next to hers, she instantly pressed her cheek against his. He felt her smile as she rubbed her cheek back and forth against his cheek. He moved his head and she turned to face him. For a moment they just looked into each other's eyes, each trying to determine the other's intentions. Finally Tess' eyes fluttered closed and she leaned up to press a soft kiss to Phil's lips. Phil inhaled through his nose hardly believing that this was happening, he stayed still for a moment, half expecting someone to interrupt them. When no one suddenly appeared to ruin the moment Phil leaned in and deepened the kiss. Licking the seam along Tess' lips as a request for entry; he was immediately rewarded by her parting lips. His tongue glided softly into her mouth trying to taste every inch with in reach. Tess' tongue glided over his reaching into his mouth. Phil had kissed many women in his lifetime but this kiss was something different. Tess leaned into him pressing her body against his. The feel of her body was incredible, he could feel her breasts crushing against his chest and her hips angled forward causing delicious contact with the bulge in his jeans.

They both pulled away gasping for breath. Tess had an adorable blush staining her cheeks. Phil tilted her chin up to look into her eyes. The coldness he had seen in the truck was completely gone and in it's place was a look he couldn't define, but he liked it...a lot.

Tess felt as if every bone in her body had melted during the kiss. It had felt so right, so perfect, so incredibly arousing. She took a deep breath and remembered that she was in desperate need of a shower. Turning back to the drawer she had opened she quickly grabbed a pair of underwear and threw them on the bed with the other clothes she'd picked out. She tilted her head up and gave Phil a quick kiss on the lips allowing her tongue to peek out and tickle his. Pulling away she headed towards the bathroom. Phil heard the shower start and couldn't decide if he should stay or go. The decision was made for him when Tess came back out and led him over to the bed, making a show of fluffing the pillows for him to lean back on. Then she once again disappeared into the bathroom.

From where Phil was sitting he had a perfect view of the shower curtain. He saw a quick flash of a very naked Tess as she hopped into the shower. He could easily make out her body's outline behind the curtain, he would certainly enjoy the show. He watched her shampoo her hair, leaning back to rinse out the soap afforded him an amazing view of her breasts as she arched her back. Next she began to wash her body. As her hands traveled up and down washing her flesh, Phil didn't think he could get any harder. He quickly unbuttoned his jeans and grasped his aching cock. He watched as Tess continued to wash herself, she seemed to be taking extra care with her breasts and when her hands slipped to the apex of her thighs Phil realized that they were doing the same thing. She was touching herself just as he was, the thought was enough to push him over the edge. He never took his eyes off of her silhouette, he could tell she was getting close and with a final shudder he saw her cum. Catching his breath he looked around for something to clean himself up with. Luckily there was a box of tissues next to him on the nightstand. He quickly cleaned up and tucked himself back in his jeans. He heard the shower turn off and watched as Tess walked out of the bathroom in just a towel.

Tess felt wonderfully relaxed as she walked out of the bathroom. Her clothes were sitting on the bed where she had left them. Still slightly hazy from her orgasm she immediately dropped the towel and started to dress, it was only as she looked up to grab her t-shirt did she realize that Phil was sitting on her bed watching her every move. Instead of covering herself she merely smiled coyly and pulled her t-shirt over her head. Once dressed both she and Phil headed downstairs to see if they could find something to eat, they were both suddenly ravenous.


	8. Part 8

Phil and Tess walked down the stairs with an extra spring in their steps. As they walked around the corner of the living room they noticed two bodies asleep in the recliners. Tess covered her mouth to keep from laughing it was Jake and Josh and they were fast asleep. She wondered how long they had been there figuring they must have been there when she arrived home. They must have been asleep or they would have made their presence know. At least she hoped so, it would have been mortifying for them to have witnessed her shower exploits or Phil's response. Phil and Tess shared a look and moved into the kitchen.

Once inside the kitchen and out of the sightline of the living room Phil swept Tess into his arms and kissed her. The kiss was rough and demanding, exhilarating to both participants. Instantly Tess' hands snaked into Phil's hair, running her fingernails lightly across his scalp. His reaction was to squeeze her tighter, pressing every inch of her body against his. He backed her up until she hit the counter then deftly lifted her onto it. Phil pulled away from her mouth and began trailing kisses down her neck, he reached the back of her ear and noticed that her hips had rolled against him. He took her ear lobe between his teeth and nipped lightly, Tess growled and rubbed herself against Phil like a cat in heat. He had just found one of her most sensitive erogenous zone. Deciding to test his theory he moved to the other ear, giving it the same treatment as the first and earned him more of that delicious movement.

Tess felt as if she was on fire, desire for this man overwhelming any sense of propriety. In her effort to move her aching center towards more friction she knocked a glass off the counter. The glass hit the floor and shattered, to Tess it sounded like a gunshot.

"What the fuck was that?" asked Jake from the other room.

Tess quickly focusing her lust addled brain said "It's just us, I dropped glass, don't come in there's glass on the floor." She said a silent prayer for the boys to be too tired to get up from the chairs. Apparently her prayers were not being answered because before she could move Josh rounded the corner and took in the sight before him. Tess up on the counter her legs spread around his dad's hips, lips red and puffy from kissing and her top with two buttons undone. Josh turned back towards the living room without a word.

"Yeah Jake, they pretty much got it under control." said Josh.

Tess sighed, she supposed they could have caught them in a worse situation. She was about to hop off the counter when Phil put a hand on her thigh to stop her. He gingerly got the broom and swept up the mess. Only after he'd put the pieces in the trash did he take Tess off the counter, placing her on the floor with a quick kiss on the cheek.

Opening the refrigerator Tess searched for something to make for dinner. Not finding anything she was really interested in cooking she decided to check the freezer. After rooting around for a while she found some meatballs she'd made and frozen. She quickly placed them in her Dutch Oven and started to work on the sauce. Forty five minutes later the house smelled like an Italian restaurant and dinner was on the table.

Phil, Jake, Josh and Tess feasted on spaghetti with meatballs, Caesar salad and garlic bread. Tess had set aside a small plate for Stella incase she woke up and was hungry. It was a good thing she had because the serving dishes were completely empty by the time the meal was finished. Jake and Josh volunteered to do the dishes, so Tess and Phil moved to sit in the living room. Phil picked up the remote and sat on the couch. Tess excused herself to check on Stella.

"Check out her Tivo dad, she has the most interesting taste in TV." called Jake from the kitchen.

Phil was intrigued and immediately went to her DVR screen to see what was playing. There were a fair amount of kids shows for Stella, some food network shows and reality tv, the rest seemed to be password protected. Josh came into the room and hit the password on the remote to open the unlocked area. Phil raised an eyebrow in question. Josh just shrugged and pointed to the screen. They were movies, adult movies, specifically adult movies about domination and submission. Phil heard Tess on the stairs and nearly wet himself in panic, until Josh calmly took the remote out of his hands and exited back to live TV.

Tess arrived in the room and looked into two faces with very conflicting looks. Josh looked like she'd just hauled a pot over the rail single handedly or opened a beer bottle with her teeth while Phil looked like he didn't know if he wanted to run to her or away from her. It only took Tess a sideways glance at the remote in Josh's hand to realize what had caused the looks. They'd obviously found her collection. She raised an eyebrow clearly indicating that she knew what they did and didn't care, then started counting backwards from ten. The first question came at number7, not surprisingly from Josh.

"Dude, I can't believe that you have this type of collection. Where did you get it?"

"Well Josh, it has taken a long time to collect, but I started back in college." answered Tess.

"College!" said Phil "What were you doing in college with this stuff?"

Tess gestured for Josh to have a seat then called Jake in from the kitchen to join them in the living room.

"I'm only going to say this once and I would ask you to keep this between us." Tess took a deep breath exhaled then started to speak. "I've always been interested in sex, since I was young. My parents never really had any or talked about it but I had other friends who's parents were much more open about the topic. It fascinated me so I began to study it, borrow books from the library when I could, go to adult book stores, and so on. In the course of my readings I discovered the world of domination and submission. It fascinated me, I was enthralled by the interplay between slaves and their masters. Of course books can only teach you so much, to really learn one must experience it for ones self. In college there was a house near my college, I had heard it was quite well known and completely impossible to get into, it was called the Tower. I started to write the owner of the house who happened to be the director of the group that met there. He seemed fascinated by my years of study and invited me to come observe. I went and it was an epiphany, my deepest fantasies were being played out in front of my eyes all in a safe and structured environment. I knew at that moment it was something I wanted to experience first hand. I told the director and he laughed. He said I was much too young to embark on training, but he said if I still felt the same way when I completed school he would consider training me. I worked ridiculously hard through college trying to finish as quickly as I could so I could begin my training. While I was in college I met Eric and even my love for him did not deter me from seeking out the training that was promised to me. I told Eric about my desire to become a trained submissive and eventually a dominant. He was surprised but supportive. He loved me for who I was, strange kinks and all. On my graduation day I showed up at the house with a tiny suitcase of clothes and a body filled with unbridled excitement."

Tess stood up and went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. After a few sips she sat down again and continued her story. " The owner met me at the door, he told me I must enter around the side, because that was where new slaves always entered. I went around and there was a guard who took me to a small room, told me to undress and crawl through a tiny door at the end of the room. I had a brief moment where I thought of leaving, but the desire to see what would happen was too great. So I did it, I stripped and crawled through the door. I met my master, learned the rules of the house and stayed there in training for one year. When I left, the master said I was wonderfully trained and I would make a powerful submissive or dominant which ever I chose. I left that day and a few months later married Eric. We played a little from time to time but I never got to use all the skills I'd gained in the Tower. Occasionally a master and I would give demonstrations at conferences but that was really the only time I got to stretch my talents. I haven't used any of them since Stella was born, simply because I was busy being a mom and then I was in Japan. Where I'm sure they had an amazing community but I don't speak Japanese."

Tess walked to the kitchen to refill her water glass. She finished doing the last few dishes that were left in the sink. She was shocked by her admission, she usually held secrets so close to her chest and yet she'd told these men one of her biggest. She wondered if she'd made a terrible mistake. Even so there was no going back, no one could turn back the hands of time. She dried her hands and re-hung the dishtowel. As she was walking through the kitchen she noticed the knife block was missing the cleaver. She sighed, it was a very expensive knife, she would have to send an email to one of her friends in Japan to get another one.

Back in the living room the Harris men were sitting in stunned silence. Josh and Jake had identical looks of shock and envy in their eyes. Phil looked like someone had sucker punched him in the gut then given him a blow job. He was certainly no blushing virgin, but these kinds of confessions from Tess were going to send him to an early grave.

"Dude, she just became exponentially hotter." remarked Jake with a dreamy voice. Both Phil and Josh glared at him.

"What?" asked Jake.

Tess came back to the living room carrying a tray with a plate of cookies and some milk. She placed it on the table then picked up a cookie and poured herself a glass of milk. She moved to sit next to Phil on the couch. The boys helped themselves to both cookies and milk but Phil just sat there. Tess leaned over and whispered in his ear. "You can ask me all the questions that are buzzing around in your head later." Phil smiled and took a cookie biting into it with gusto.

"So would it be rude to ask if we could watch one of the movies?" said Josh.

"It's not rude, and you are more than welcome to watch a movie." Tess replied calmly.

"Are you in any of them?" blurted out Jake

"No. Not in any of these. I did do one instructional video on spanking while I was in the Tower. Although I doubt it was duplicated, it was for house use only." said Tess.

"There is a video out there of you being spanked?" exclaimed all 3 Harris's.

"No. I was the one doing the spanking." said Tess with a smirk.

Josh dropped the remote he had been holding and Jake miraculously managed not to drop the milk he'd been about to drink. Tess calmly picked up the remote and selected a movie. "This is one of my favorites. It was made by one of my friends."

The video opened with a sweeping shot of a wonderfully appointed library. In front of the fireplace was a man in a smoking jacket sitting in a elegant looking chair, at his feet was a strikingly beautiful girl, naked except for a small collar. The collared woman's eyes were directed to the floor and she never raised her eyes even when the camera was inches from her face. The man introduced himself and then introduced the woman. He beckoned his slave up onto his lap, she immediately laid face down with her feet on the floor and her arms dangling over the mans legs. The master picked up a hairbrush and gave the her 5 quick smacks on the bottom. The slave writhed on his lap, he spanked her 5 more times. The camera panned to the slaves face, tears were streaking down her cheeks but while she looked hurt and humiliated she also had a look of ecstasy in her eyes.

Tess looked into the faces of Jake and Josh, it was easy to see them from her spot on the couch. She knew they had no idea what kind of torture they were in for as the video continued. She wondered which would crack first. Both had tented the front of their pants and the movie had only been on for 10 minutes. Tess was slightly disappointed that she couldn't see Phil's face, but the movement of his hand up and down her side meant he was fine.

The next scene included implements from a table. The master explained what each was used for and the time limits when using the device. 'These of course are the nipple clips, for a new submissive 5 minutes is the maximum that should be tried on a first outing and of course they should be used with positive reinforcement.' The demonstration began with the submissive was placed on a low stool, the clips were fastened to her distended nipples and immediately her legs opened revealing her shaved pussy. The master fingered her clit until the 5 minutes had elapsed, then removed the clamps and allowed her to orgasm.

Seeing movement out of the corner of her eye she saw Jake attempt to get up quietly and leave the room. He was completely unsuccessful, but said nothing as he went into the bathroom and shut the door.

"Should we pause the movie for him?" asked Tess in her very best innocent voice.

Both Phil and Josh turned to stare at her. Her finger was poised over the pause button, but before she could push it the door to the bathroom opened and a very relieved looking Jake came out. "Did I miss anything?" he asked. Tess shook her head and put the remote back down on the table.

The next scene included two girls. One dressed in leather the other naked except for a collar. Again there was a table of implements. The dominant began to explain the ins and outs of the plugs sitting on the table. She explained that starting with a small plug is best especially for a new submissive, however larger heavier ones can be used in training once a tolerance has been built. The demonstration began with the submissive bending over the table, legs spread and both holes visible. The dominant picked up a smallish plug and inserts it into the slaves vagina, then immediately inserts into her anus. She turns to the camera explaining how the plug could be worn throughout daily activities as a task from a master during the submissive's daily routines. The demonstration continues with the removal of the small plug. The dominant the picks up a plug that is slightly bigger in size and appears to be made of a metal of some sort. Instead of using the slaves natural lubricant she uses some KY jelly from the table. She carefully inserts it into the slaves ass, then lifts the slave to a standing position. The camera can see the plug start to slip and then watches as the slave tightens her muscles and stops it's downward progress.

Josh gets up stumbling over Jakes foot and already has his pants unzipped by the time he opens the bathroom door. In his excitement he fails to close the door completely and the sounds of his self love could be easily heard over the video. Tess decided that everyone had probably had enough videos for the night and turns off the TV. She picks up the tray and carries it into the kitchen with a wicked smile on her face, Once in the kitchen she giggles to herself, serves them right for snooping.

Tess walks back into the living room and notices that Josh has returned from the bathroom. "It's getting late, all of you are more than welcome to spend the night." announces Tess. There seems to be a few moments in which Phil and the boys seem to be communicating through eye blinks and neck twitches. Sensing that they need to discuss something in private Tess excuses herself upstairs to change into some pajamas.

Once the boys hear Tess reach the top of the stairs they immediately start to whisper excitedly to each other.

"I can't believe that she watched that with us?" said Josh.

"I can't believe that you forgot to close the door." laughed Jake.

"Do you think she would spank us if we asked her to?" asked Josh. "I think it would be an amazing experience."

Phil was distressed, he desperately wanted to stay with Tess, but he absolutely did not need Ding and Dong here at the same time. With a sigh he decided that they should all head back to the boat, they had a season to prepare for. He told the boys to wait downstairs while he went up to tell Tess.

Phil walked through the doorway and saw Tess kneeling on a pillow in the middle of her bedroom floor. Her eyes were cast downward just like the submissive in the movie, the only difference is that she was still dressed. His breath caught in his throat, he had to tell her that he was leaving, that the boys were still downstairs, but he lacked the breath do speak. As he approached her, she smiled, knelt up and started to unfasten his jeans. She looked up into his face and said in a loud voice "Did you come to a decision?" As soon as the last syllable was out of her mouth she clamped the same mouth around Phil's cock.

Phil found himself trying to formulate the answer to her question. He looked down at Tess and saw her mouth stretched wide over his engorged cock. As if the sight wasn't enough to send him over the edge her mouth and tongue felt amazingly warm and wet.

"Dad? Are we going or what?" asked Josh from the stairwell.

Phil panicked and started to pull away from Tess, she in turn increased her suction and kept him exactly where he was. "I'll be right down, I was just tucking Tess into bed." replied Phil through gritted teeth. He was so close.

"Do you need any help?" asked Jake.

Suddenly Tess sucked in her cheeks practically forcing Phil's orgasm. "Ooooohhhhhh" yelled Phil as he climaxed into Tess' mouth. She quickly swallowed, licked him clean and tucked him back into his pants. She'd just managed to stand up when the boys entered the room. Phil thankfully was facing away from them, his face screamed man who just had an amazing blow job.

"Well thanks again for everything" said Tess as she gave Phil a friendly hug. Next she moved on to bestow thank you's and hugs on Jake and Josh. She walked the boys downstairs, giving Phil another few minutes to collect himself. Once downstairs the boys asked if she was available tomorrow because they had something for her and Stella. Tess told them Frank had given her the rest of the week off and was coming up personally to handle the orders for her, so she and Stella were free all day. Phil appeared, slowly making his way down the stairs. Tess helped him into his coat and lifted up on her toes to give him a kiss on the cheek. She stood in the doorway until she saw the Harris's turn the corner at the end of the block. She turned off the lights and headed up to bed.


	9. Part 9

Tess woke up the moment Stella crawled into bed with her.

"Good Morning sweetie. How are you feeling this morning?" asked Tess.

"I'm hungry" replied Stella.

Getting out of bed Tess herded Stella into the bathroom to use the toilet and take her vitamin. Once the morning routines were out of the way they both headed downstairs. Stella immediately went to the tv and turned it to cartoons. Tess made her way into the kitchen, picked up a banana and poured Stella a glass of milk. Giving Stella her breakfast appetizer to start on she opened the refrigerator to get some eggs. She glanced at the small plate covered in plastic wrap she'd prepared the night before. A torrent of memories came flooding back, she'd watched pornography with Phil and his sons and performed a completely inappropriate act on Phil. She felt her cheeks blush and immediately grabbed a soda can and pressed it to her cheeks in an effort to cool them off.

Tess didn't know what had come over her, it was like someone had turned off her judgment center. If she thought about it she knew exactly why she'd done it. It had been almost 2 years since anyone had shown any interest in her as a woman, she'd been moving constantly, and had with no one to talk to but her daughter. Dutch Harbor had provided her with a community of adult friends and the years of missing adult conversations made her want to make up for lost time. So instead of revealing things slowly over time like a normal person she was suffering from a serious case of diarrhea of the mouth. It also didn't help or hurt, depending on how she looked at it, that she was completely attracted to Phil. There was something about him that was so incredibly sexy, perhaps it was the ruggedness the years of fishing the bearing sea had given him or the fact that he was intelligent without taking him self too seriously. Whatever it was to Tess it was a powerful aphrodisiac. When he walked into a room he drew her to him like a moth to a flame. She just hoped that she wasn't going to get burned, but if she did it would be a hell of a way to go.

Shaking off her musings Tess got back to the business of making breakfast. She decided to make Stella's favorite, the breakfast happy face. It was 2 eggs for eyes, hash brown potatoes for hair and a bacon smile, today he even had an orange slice as a nose. Tess and Stella sat on the floor using the coffee table to share the plate of food while watching Scooby Doo.

Tess cleared the plates from the table and placed them in the sink for later. She turned on the computer and checked her email. She immediately saw the message from the Unalaska school district, she opened it excitedly. It was as she hoped Stella had been accepted into the kindergarten class at the elementary school. Tess had needed to get special permission for Stella to enter as a 4 year old, even though she would be turning 5 in a matter of weeks. Her acceptance had been approved and she could start school as soon as she wanted. The email also included a list of school supplies she would need to bring and the name and email of her teacher. Tess watched Stella as she watched her cartoons, she was growing up so fast. Stella looked up as she felt her mom approached her.

"I have good news Stella, I got an email from the school, you can start as soon as your ready." announced Tess. Stella squealed in delight. She'd been excited about starting school since they moved here and saw the school bus drive down the street.

"I want to start tomorrow." said Stella. "Then I think it's time to get dressed, I have the list of school supplies that we need to get for you." Tess had barely finished her sentence when Stella rushed upstairs. Tess smiled thinking to herself that it was going to be a long day, but at least Stella was excited about school.

Tess had finished getting dressed and was waiting for Stella to brush her teeth and put on her shoes when she realized that Jake and Josh had wanted to stop by the house. She quickly looked around for her notebook with all the boats numbers in it. Remembering that Frank had taken it she called Meg's cell.

"Hey Meg, it's Tess. Can I get the Cornelia Marie's number? Frank has my notebook."

"Is everything ok?" asked Meg with concern.

"Yeah, I just need to head out to the store to pick up some school supplies for Stella, she's starting school tomorrow." explained Tess.

"That's great, she's always talking about going to school. She must be really excited." said Meg. "But what does this have to do with the Cornelia Marie?"

"Jake and Josh said they wanted to stop by with something for Stella and I just wanted to tell them that we are going out or a while, but will be back later." said Tess.

"Um, ok. Do you just want me to let them know?" asked Meg.

"Sure", said Tess feeling a little disappointed. She was hoping to talk to Phil.

"Ok, will do. Stop by later so I can make sure you're really ok." said Meg.

"We will, and Meg thank you so much for everything. I really appreciated everything you did for us." said Tess sincerely.

"Any time." said Meg.

Tess caught up to Stella at the door, double checking she had her list and the pair was out the door.

* * *

Phil woke up just after 8, he could hear the crew moving around in the rest of the boat. He imagined that they were loading gear and finishing the safety checks. He lit a cigarette, sat up in bed and began replaying the events of last night. It was completely unreal, something straight out of a fantasy. His dreams last night had been full of spankings and leather. His impression of the kind of woman Tess was had been completely destroyed. When he'd first met her and heard her story he thought she was an innocent who'd had a tough turn in life. Now she was anything but innocent in his mind, he thought of what she's done and how many people she'd done it with. He felt slightly guilty for judging about her exploits, he had more than his fair share, of course his didn't involve a fetish community. He really needed to talk to her, the kiss had felt so right but now he wasn't sure if it wasn't just some strange d/s thing she was using him for. Phil needed to get this whole situation cleared up before he left port, distraction was not an option on the bearing sea and this new Tess was definitely a distraction.

After showering and dressing Phil made his way to the wheelhouse, he'd just pulled out a map of the fishing grounds when his cell rang.

"Hello?"

"Hi Phil, it's Meg. Tess wanted me to give a message to the boys. She and Stella are going out shopping for school supplies this morning and probably won't be back until later this afternoon."

"Ok, I'll let them know." with that Phil hung up the cell and headed down to the deck to inform the boys.

As Phil stepped onto the deck he could hear Jake and Josh arguing with each other.

"No way! You wouldn't last 10 minutes with her. She'd eat you up and spit you out. Besides, I don't think she's really interested in younger guys....Oh, hi dad." said Josh sheepishly.

"Morning Pops" said Jake.

"What the hell are you guys talking about? On second thought I don't want to know." he ran a hand through his hands, feeling an odd tingling as he remembered the way Tess scraped her nails across it. Clearing his throat he delivered Meg's message. "Tess is taking Stella shopping for school supplies this morning and won't be back until late afternoon."

"Ok cool. We wouldn't be done here until then anyway." said Josh.

Phil stood eyeballing the boys trying to determine what they were up to. He remembered they hadn't given Stella or Tess the card last night. He assumed that was what the boys were going to give her this afternoon. Mystery solved, Phil walked back up to the wheelhouse to think about where he was going to set his pots this season.

* * *

Tess and Stella managed to get all of the school supplies on the list in record time. Tess smiled to herself, it was easier to shop for stuff when there was only one store in town that carried what was needed. Stella looked pleased with her choice of backpack and lunchbox. Tess had gotten her a few more outfits for school and a new pair of shoes. They'd also talked a lot about what going to school entailed. Stella had never gone to preschool so she was about to enter her first structured classroom without any previous experience. Tess hoped that Stella would be polite and attentive to her teacher. In order to put both Tess and Stella at ease they stopped by the school to fill out some forms, take a brief tour and meet Stella's teacher.

The tour was great, Stella got to see where all the bathrooms were, where she would meet her class in the morning, and where she would be picked up in the afternoon. They were shown the cafeteria, the gym, the playground, and the school office. Finally they were introduced to Stella's teacher and class. It was just before lunch and Stella stood hesitantly in front of the students as the teacher introduced the class' newest member. Stella was invited to eat lunch with the other students and readily agreed. Tess followed the teacher into the lunch room and watched as Stella sat between two girls and instantly struck up a conversation. The teacher tapped Tess on the shoulder and led her to a quiet corner.

"So, on the application it said she'd never attended a preschool. Is that true?" asked the teacher.

Tess bristled slightly then forced herself to calmly nod.

"Well, I think she'll do fine, she's already made friends." said the teacher brightly.

Tess relaxed and smiled. After lunch Stella said goodbye to her new friends and followed her mom to the truck. Once they'd arrived at home they quickly unpacked their shopping bags and repacked Stella's backpack for school the next day. They discussed what Stella would take for lunch and what she wanted to wear. Once everything was settled Stella started to yawn. Tess walked her up to her room where she encouraged her to change into something comfy then gathered her into her arms and wrapped her in the green blanket. They sat and rocked in the rocking chair until both of them were fast asleep.

* * *

Jake and Josh called the Northwestern on the radio from the wheelhouse of the Cornelia Marie. Sig picked up and told the boys his crew was ready when they were.

Yesterday while Phil was picking up Tess and Stella from the hospital the crews that had stayed at her house hatched a plan. Along with cleaning up the house they decided that they should do something special for Tess as a thank you for all the special little things she did for them. Matt had suggested making something for Stella, so the men used the beads they'd found while cleaning to make new bracelets for Stella and Tess. Meg had agreed to lend them the keys so they could set up their surprise.

The two crews piled their supplies into their trucks and headed over to the elbow room to pick up the keys. There only concern was making sure that Tess and Stella didn't get wise to the surprise. Jake and Josh had that problem completely covered, they would send Phil over to pick the girls up. The only problem was they hadn't mentioned the idea to Phil.

"Dude, just call him and ask him to go over to see if she's home yet." said Jake to Josh.

"Why don't you call him?" replied Josh.

"Because I asked you first." said Jake.

"My God you are annoying." yelled Edgar grabbing the phone and dialing Phil. "Hey Phil, yeah it's Edgar. Listen we are planning a surprise for Tess and Stella can you please go over to her house and see if she's home and if she is get her out of the house. Thanks." Edgar hung up the phone not even waiting for a positive response.

Phil sat stock still in his chair still holding his open phone. Then taking a breath he got up out of his chair, changed his shirt, ran a comb through his hair, grabbed his jacket and headed over to Tess' house. He arrived a few minutes later and noticed that her car was in the driveway. Phil took a deep breath then knocked on the door. Receiving no response he rang the doorbell, waited a few minutes and was just about to walk away when a slightly disheveled looking Tess answered the door.

* * *

Tess stepped back letting Phil through the door. She smiled at him but made no move to hug or kiss him. She held her fingers to her lips and walked upstairs beckoning Phil to follow her. She glanced into Stella's room to double check the girl was snug as a bug in a rug then walked into her own room and climbed back under the blankets. She turned around and motioned for Phil to close the door. Once the door was closed she started to speak.

"I'm really tired, but if you want to talk to me you can lay down next to me and we can talk, just don't be offended if I don't open my eyes." said Tess through half lidded eyes. Phil realized that he wasn't going to be able to get Tess or Stella out of the house, but he could probably keep them both upstairs. He quickly pulled out his phone and sent a text to Josh telling him the situation; then he sat down on the edge of the bed, took off his shoes and jacket and laid down next to Tess.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" she asked sleepily.

"Nothing urgent, why don't you just rest." said Phil gently.

"You aren't horrified about what happened last night are you?" asked Tess quietly.

"I'll admit that it was a lot to take in. You completely changed my perception of you." Phil said.

"In a good way or a bad way?" said Tess in an even quieter voice.

Phil had to think about his answer, he wasn't sure what he felt about her or how her confession and actions had changed his plans regarding her. "I don't know yet." he said softly. There was no response and he wondered if she'd already fallen back asleep. He looked down into her face, it was turned slightly towards him and he could see a small tear dripping over the bridge of her nose. Without a thought he brushed it away with his finger. Tess didn't move, so Phil brushed her hair back from her forehead so he could study her face. Her skin was soft and warm, with a healthy glow, her eyelashes were dark against her cheeks and her lips were pressed together in a slight frown. When he looked at her he got the impression that she was quite innocent even though he knew that was untrue. Her eyes though were the eyes of an old soul, full of experience and knowledge. She was an enigma to Phil, a beautiful puzzle but a puzzle none the less. He sighed realizing that he probably didn't need any more puzzles in his life, what he needed was a great red crab season then a few weeks of riding his Harley before coming back to do it all over again for Opies.

Phil felt his phone vibrate and quickly pulled it out. The text from the boys said to just keep Tess and Stella upstairs that they would be quiet. Phil closed the phone and settled in to wait. He glanced down again at Tess she'd rolled more towards him, he brushed her hair back from her forehead and gave her a kiss. Tess smiled in her sleep.


	10. Part 10

Jake, Josh and the Northwestern crew attempted to quietly enter Tess' house. They were doing well until Edgar knocked into the hall mirror and started cursing. After that all attempts to be quiet were forgotten, they just trusted that Phil could keep Tess and Stella upstairs until the surprise was ready.

Tess heard the crash downstairs and immediately sat up in bed, she heard Edgar's voice and wondered if everything was ok. When the commotion continued, she realized that there were more people than just Edgar downstairs. She turned to Phil who was awake but seemed unwilling to give her the answer she sought. However, when she made a move to get out of bed, he held her arm so she couldn't get up.

"Don't go down there. It's a surprise." said Phil blandly.

"Didn't you just ruin the surprise portion?" laughed Tess.

"No. I didn't tell you what the surprise is." replied Phil.

"If they don't keep it down they are going to wake Stella." said Tess.

"Really? Will she come in here or go straight downstairs?" asked Phil, mildly concerned.

"I don't really know. We've never really been in this type of situation before."

"Your kidding. You've never had a group of crabbers break into your house to set up a surprise in the middle of the afternoon? It happens everyday here." said Phil sarcastically.

Tess dissolved into a fit of giggles. Phil saw Tess transform into a little girl when she laughed, not the guarded laugh he'd heard before. This laugh was beautiful and he realized he would like to hear it more often.

"So what do you suggest we do up here until they are finished downstairs?" asked Tess.

The question was ridiculously vague and Phil wasn't sure how he should answer. Tess looked at him clearly expecting an answer.

"We could play a game." said Phil

"What kind of game?" pressed Tess.

"I don't know, do you have any cards?" said Phil

"Not up here, this bedroom is only used for one thing." Phil's eyebrow shot up in an unspoken question.

"Sleeping." answered Tess. "Although I do have some nail polish in the bathroom, I could give you a manicure." Phil looked horrified. "Or not." said Tess.

They lapsed into silence listening to the commotion downstairs. It was really a wonder that Stella hadn't woken up. But after one particularly loud thump and the following flurry of swear words the guys luck finally failed and little Stella awoke from her nap. Instead of walking across the hall to her mother's room Stella decided to check out what was making the noise downstairs.

* * *

Stella rounded the landing at the bottom of the stairs and ran smack into Jake Anderson who was suppose to be the stair lookout. Jake jumped a mile and barely managed to contain his scream.

"Hey Stella." Jake said trying desperately to distract the girls attention from the other rooms.

"Hi Jake. said Stella as she quickly darted by him and into kitchen. She ran right up to Matt who was putting the finishing touches on a tray of brownies.

"Hi Matt!" she bellowed. Matt jumped in shock and dropped the sprinkles he was using.

He smiled down at Stella then yelled "Jake you idiot, I thought we said to guard the stairs."

Jake appeared in the kitchen looking sheepish. "Dude, she slipped right by me. She's quick."

Matt picked up Stella and carried her into the living room. "I found an extra helper for you guys."

"Stella!" said the guys, then immediately made room for her on the couch. They were still working on putting together a pot rack for Tess' kitchen. Stella's surprise had been finished before they arrived at the house.

Edgar watched as she stared at the mess of iron and screws, she looked completely uninterested. Thinking quickly he remembered that Matt had said she loved the movie Enchanted. "Hey Stella, would you like to watch Enchanted with Jake?" asked Edgar pointing to Jake Harris. Jake immediately scowled. But it was too late, Stella was already enthusiastically nodding her head.

Jake gingerly cued up the movie and Stella hesitantly crawled into his lap. Jake felt a little uncomfortable, she was little and squirmy and he had no idea where he could put his hands. Finally Stella stopped squirming and found a comfortable spot laying her head on Jake's shoulder. Jake took a deep breath and began watching the movie.

* * *

Upstairs Tess and Phil were playing 20 questions. It had taken Tess 6 questions to guess the name of the first boat Phil had ever worked on. Phil was up to 18 questions on what Tess' favorite drink was, so far he knew it was a soda, and was continuing to guess specific brands and so far was completely unsuccessful. Tess was giggling almost constantly because she was so close to winning. Finally after reaching number 20 with no success Phil asked her what the stupid soda was.

"Matsuya Cider, is my absolute favorite. It's only available in Japan as far as I know." replied Tess.

Phil was flabbergasted, how the hell was he suppose to guess that answer. He'd never even been to Japan.

"So what was your favorite thing about Japan? Other than the soda." asked Phil

"The sushi, the vending machines, the fact that almost every public toilet was clean, Tokyo Disney, the fashion they wear, that the Japanese are really friendly to children. Almost everything." said Tess rather dreamily.

"Why didn't you stay there?" asked Phil.

"We couldn't stay, we lived on a military base, I needed to bury Eric at home. Then I just left." said Tess sadly. "I doubt I'll ever go back, at least not by myself, I think I'd be drowning in the past." as she said the last few words she looked over at the medication bottles.

"Is that why you and Stella left to travel?" asked Phil.

"I don't know. I suppose I was just overwhelmed by the whole situation. I just needed to leave, to be away from everyone who knew Eric and me. To just be alone." Tess paused for a moment then continued in a barely audible voice. "I didn't want anyone to see if I completely lost it."

"I don't think anyone would have thought any less of you if that happened." said Phil reassuringly.

Tess gave him a smile that clearly said she didn't believe him, but didn't comment.

"You know I wish I could just scoop you up and carry you off somewhere no one could hurt you, that I could brush away all the pain you've had, make all the hardships disappear."

"Oh Phil, that's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. A great TV show once told me that whatever doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. So I suppose all these troubles and strife is just making me a stronger person."

Tess sat up straight, clasped her hands on Phil's cheeks and stared into his eyes. "I think you are an amazing human being, you are smart, strong, funny and humble. To me those characteristics are what any woman should look for in a man, what I look for in one. I think I'm falling for you." Tess sat back on her heels. "I know I'm not the innocent you thought I was and that what happened the other night has changed our relationship and not necessarily in a good way. I think you deserve a good girl and I don't think I fit into that category any more." With that Tess got up and headed to the bathroom leaving a very stunned Phil sitting on the bed.

* * *

Downstairs the pot rack was hung and Stella was directing Norman as to what pots and pans Tess used most when cooking. The array of cookware was staggering and Norman was surprised that Stella knew the names and uses of almost all the pans he pulled out.

The others were gathered around the TV making completely boorish comments about what they'd do to Giselle the princess if they'd found her on the streets of New York.

"Oh I would definitely take her back to And to Lays Ya" said Jake.

"Yep, the jewelry I'd give her on the wedding night would be a pearl necklace" added Jake Anderson.

Edgar was laughing then told them to keep it down and headed back into the kitchen.

He walked in to see Norman holding Stella up to hang the last pan in the rack. To see the two of them together was cute. Edgar never really saw Norman open up to anyone that wasn't family, yet this little girl completely captivated him for some reason. Stella bent down to whisper something in Norman's ear and he smiled and pulled his sleeve up to show her the bracelet. When she saw he was wearing the bracelet she gave him a kiss on the cheek causing Norman to blush.

Edgar cleared his throat. "So I think everything else is all done, why don't we order pizza before we send Phil the all clear message." Norman just nodded and put Stella back on the ground.

"So Stella what do you and your mom like on your pizza?" asked Norman.

"Um, I like sausage and mushrooms and mommy likes anything." replied Stella. "But we don't ever order pizza we always make our own. I can show you if you want."

Edgar and Norman exchanged looks, they were imagining how many pizza's they would actually have to make to feed all the guys and the mess that would probably be made by they attempts to make homemade pizza.

"Uh thanks Stella, but I think we will stick with ordering this time, but next time we will definitely let you teach us." said Edgar.

Stella smiled, nodded and headed back into the other room to finish her movie.

* * *

Phil was still sitting on Tess' bed when she came out of the bathroom. He noticed immediately that her eyes looked different, colder, more distant. He wanted to reach out to her and tell her it would be ok, that he liked her even if she wasn't what he'd originally thought, but he didn't. Instead he watched her change her shirt and put on a pair of socks then walk over to the vanity table and begin to brush her hair.

He felt his phone vibrate and opened to read the text that said he could release Tess from the handcuffs and bring her downstairs. Phil looked around the room wondering if somewhere within these drawers were a pair of handcuffs. "They are ready for the big surprise downstairs, if you're ready." he said. Tess stood and calmly walked out the door. For some reason Phil felt as if something terrible had just happened between him and Tess and he had no idea what it was.

* * *

The surprises were great. Tess loved her hanging pot rack and vowed to use it everyday. She also asked if they'd made sure it was securely attached to the ceiling, Matt then made a show of hanging from it to show her it was sturdy. Stella's gift was amazing. The guys from all the boats had signed a huge card, many drawing pictures of their boats and fellow crew members. The Northwestern also presented her with a bicycle with a princess basket. Norman promised to teach her how to ride it. After Stella finished her piece of pizza he took her out for her first lesson.

The guys stayed until a little after 8 when Tess said Stella had to get ready for bed, because she had school in the morning. Everyone wished Stella good luck on her first day of school and gave her some hints on how to make spit wads, or give boys wedgies and a variety of other troublemaking suggestions. Jake, Josh and Phil were the last to leave. Stella gave the boys a tour of her room and allowed them to stay and play with her toys while she took her bath. Once she returned to the room she read both boys a bedtime story and allowed Jake to tuck her in and kiss her goodnight.

"You watch one movie with her and suddenly she loves you. I will never understand girls." said Josh as he and Jake walked out of Stella's room. Jake merely smirked in response.

Tess walked the Harris's to the door and said her goodbyes. The boys turned and started their walk back to the boat. Phil waited until they were out of earshot. "Tess, I had a really nice time talking to you. I know what you said about you not being a nice girl, but I think you're wrong. You are a really nice girl."

Tess smiled, then stood on her tiptoes and whispered into Phil's ear. "When I'm good I'm good, but when I'm bad I'm even better." As she stepped back Phil gazed into her eyes, the cold, distant eyes were there. Phil turned and jogged a bit to catch up to the boys, a chill chasing his vertebrae up and down his back.

* * *

The next day Stella was up as soon as the sunlight streamed into her window. She had already gotten dressed by the time Tess' alarm clock went off. The first day of school excitement was spreading. Stella could barely sit still through breakfast or during the ride to school. However, once they arrived at the drop off point, she started to get a little nervous. Tess held her hand as they walked to morning line up; once they got there the two girls who had sat with Stella at lunchtime immediately came over and dragged her into line. Without a second glance back she was gone. Tess stood back and watched the kids file into the classroom, her heart was full and breaking at the same time. With a sigh she got back into the truck and went to find Frank.

Frank was pretty easy to find, he was currently loading supplies into the Farwest Leader. He smiled and told her to stay on the dock until he was finished. As he hopped onto the dock he had a strange look on his face, both happy and sad at the same time. Frank suggested they go get a cup of coffee.

"How about my house." suggested Tess "Or rather your house."

"Sure." said Frank.

Once seated at the dining room with coffee and breakfast muffins steaming on the table Frank started to speak. "I don't really know how to say this." he began. "Seattle has been too far for me, I really prefer it up here. Margie has been missing me something fierce and I've been missing her twice as much." Tess was shocked, she'd had no idea that they were a couple.

Frank continued. "I've decided to forgo my management career and go back to the job I was doing before."

Tess froze, she was getting fired. Her only real reason for staying in Dutch Harbor was this job. The anchor that kept her in this spot had just disappeared.

"Now, I don't want you to think you have to move, you can stay here as long as you like. I'm going to be moving in with Margie, we've decided to take our relationship to the next level. " Frank went on "I know that Stella just started school here so I'm sure you want her to finish out the year or if you don't I understand that too."

Tess barely heard the rest of the statement, she merely nodded when Frank told her he had to go and that he would let himself out. She sat at the table for the rest of the day, staring at the Japanese character on the mantle. She only got up when she heard the clock chime 2, she didn't want to be late to pick up Stella.


	11. Part 11

Tess arrived a few minutes early and waited with the other parents in the pick up area. Usually Tess was outgoing and talkative, but not today. She had no desire to speak or make eye contact with anyone. Her life felt like it had tilted on it's axis. Moving here seemed like a great way to simplify her life, instead it became just as complicated as before, what was worse she felt herself starting to slip mentally. Before she could delve too far into her mental status Stella bounded out of her classroom. She stayed in line until the teacher said the class was dismissed then immediately ran to her mom, her teacher following slowly behind her.

"Hi Mommy! I had a great day, my new friends and I got to sit together during story time and I was able to read a book out loud to the class." Stella gushed.

"She's really an excellent reader, I would say she's definitely reading above grade level." said her teacher.

Tess smiled and thanked her, then herded Stella to the car. Once inside and buckled up, Stella continued her detailed description of her first day of school.

"I really want to see Norman today, he said we could work on riding the bike again after school. But he didn't say if it was after my school or his school. What time does he get out of school?" asked Stella.

"Well, I suppose once we get home you can call Sig and ask him if Norman can come out to play." replied Tess.

"Can't we just stop there on the way home? I want to practice now." whined Stella.

"Your bike is at home and I want you to change out of your school clothes." said Tess.

"Ok." came the disappointed voice from the backseat.

Tess sighed, she just wasn't up for a lot of whining today. She pulled the truck into the post office. Tess and Stella headed inside and found themselves walking in on a very passionate kiss between Frank and Margie. Tess cleared her throat politely while Stella gawked.

"Wow, that was a kiss like in the movies." said Stella.

"Oh my gosh, how embarrassing." said Margie, a blush staining her cheeks. Margie handed Tess a stack of mail. "Well to make up for my ridiculous display here why don't I take Stella for the evening. She promised to help me bake some cookies."

"I don't know Margie, she has school tomorrow." said Tess.

"I'll take her so not to worry. Frank and I will be on our best behavior." said Margie with a laugh.

"I won't be there tonight Marg, I'm heading up to St. Paul to deliver some supplies to a long line boat tonight." said Frank.

"Well see now, it will just be us girls. What do you say Tess?" pleaded Margie.

"Stella what do you think?" asked Tess.

"I want to stay at Margie's and make cookies. But only after Norman teaches me to ride my bike." replied Stella.

"Sounds like a plan" said Tess. "How about I drop her off after dinner?"

"I'll be ready. If you want to drop her off earlier I'm making Stella Stew, it's her favorite." said Margie.

Stella was bouncing on the balls of her feet. Tess had no idea what Stella Stew was but it was clearly a favorite. "Ok after her bike lesson then." said Tess while she and Stella headed for the door.

* * *

Phil was having one of those days on the boat where nothing was going right. Murray had told him that a few parts for the engine that had to be flown in from Anchorage hadn't arrived yet and until they did the engine was non-operational. On top of that Jake and Josh couldn't find the bait buckets, they each said the other had secured them and knew where the buckets were. However, even with both of them looking no buckets had been located. Phil's nerves were frayed and he'd already smoked his way through an entire pack of cigarettes.

"If you two idiots can not find those god damn buckets I'll stick you in the pots as bait." yelled Phil over the hailer.

Jake and Josh both physically winced and went back to pulling the coils of ropes out of the crab tanks in search of the elusive buckets.

"He's in a mood today." said Josh sarcastically.

"Yeah, he needs to get laid." said Jake.

"Well we know a nice girl who'd probably fit the bill." said Josh

"Oh yeah? Who's that?" said Jake.

"Tess, she and dad were kissing the other day in her kitchen." said Josh.

"Really, I didn't know the old man had it in him." laughed Jake.

"Think of how happy he'd be if he was getting it nice and regular." said Josh wistfully. "He might actually say thank you once and a while."

"Alright that's settled, we need to get them together...tonight." said Jake.

"Yes! I fucking found them." shouted Josh as he picked up a string of bait buckets. "At least we are no longer going to be turned into bait."

"Good lets get the hell out of here and work on our new plan." said Jake already climbing out of the tank.

Once on deck Jake waved the bait buckets towards the wheelhouse.

"It's about fucking time." was Phi's only comment.

"Well I suppose a well done wasn't to be expected." said Josh climbing out of the crab tank.

* * *

Stella was sitting on a chair with the phone to her ear. It was ringing and she was waiting for someone to pick up. "What?" said the voice on the phone."Can Norman come out to play?" asked Stella.

"What did you say?" said the voice.

"Can. Norman. Come. Out. To. Play?" repeated Stella slowly, as if she was talking to a baby.

"Is this some sort of a joke? Who is this?" said the voice.

"It's Stella. Norman said he would teach me to ride my bike after school, I was calling to see if he was done with his school so we could play." explained Stella.

"Oh my God Sig, you need to get up here." said Edgar. Their was muffled talking in the background and a very hearty laugh. Then a new voice on the phone.

"Hi Stella it's Sig, you needed to ask me something?"

"Yes, can Norman come out to play? He was going to teach me to ride my bike after school. I'm done with school and I wanted to know if he was done too." said Stella, slightly exasperated by the number of times she'd had to repeat her request.

"Um sure honey, I'll send him right over after he gets cleaned up." said Sig, barely suppressing his laughter.

"Thanks Sig." said Stella, then she hung up the phone.

"Mommy, Sig said he would send Norman over after he got cleaned up." said Stella proudly.

"Well then you should go upstairs and change in to some pants and a long sleeve shirt." said Tess.

She watched Stella disappear up the stairs. She hoped Stella's call didn't get Norman too much grief on the boat.

* * *

"Noooorrrrrmaaann" yelled Edgar as he walked through the galley and out onto the deck. "Where are you?"

"What do you want Edgar and why are you saying my name that way?" asked Norman looking up from the pot he was restringing.

"Well, we just got a phone call from your little girl friend. She wanted to know if you could come out and play." said Edgar in a sing song voice.

"What are you talking about?" said Norman, not bothering to look up at Edgar.

"Stella called and asked if you were finished with school and could come out and play. To teach her to ride her bike, like you promised." Edgar was wheezing by the time he finished the sentence, he was laughing so hard he'd stopped making any sound.

Norman turned to face Edgar, for a second he thought he was having some sort of attack, but then realized that he was just laughing too hard. Norman punched Edgar in the stomach and watched as he dropped to the deck with a satisfying thud. Without looking back Norman headed into his stateroom to get changed.

A few minutes later he reemerged on deck to see Jake, Matt and Nick huddled around Edgar who was still on the deck. Norman saw that he was sitting up and knew he would be fine. As Norman hopped onto the dock he saw Edgar give him the finger. He just smiled and kept walking, he had a date to keep.

* * *

Stella was anxiously pacing in front of her door, waiting for Norman to appear. Tess was sitting on the stairs watching her with a small smile on her face. Tess thought Stella looked like a wife waiting for a late husband to appear. "Stella we should at least invite Norman in for a snack before you go out to practice." said Tess evenly.

"I guess." said Stella sounding slightly disappointed. "Can I pick the snack?" asked Stella with more enthusiasm.

"Sure. Why don't we get it ready now." suggested Tess.

The girls headed into the kitchen to make a snack. Stella chose ants on a log. Tess carefully spread peanut butter onto celery stalks then passed them to Stella who added the raisins. When Stella had placed the last log on the pile there was a knock at the front door.

"Hi Norman. Please come in for a snack." said Stella pulling him through the door. Norman quickly shrugged out of his jacket and followed Stella into the kitchen. He smiled as he saw the pile of celery with peanut butter. Tess was just pouring out two glasses of milk when she saw Norman.

"Hi. How was school today?" she asked teasingly.

"Well it was ok, but I had to beat up some kid that kept making fun of me." said Norman with mock seriousness.

"Fighting isn't allowed at my school." said Stella.

"It's not really allowed at my school either." replied Norman.

"Are you going to get in trouble?" asked Stella suddenly concerned.

"I don't know, but even if I do it was worth it." said Norman casually.

Everyone lapsed into silence while Norman and Stella ate their snack.

"Don't you want some?" Norman asked Tess.

"No thanks, I don't like peanut butter." replied Tess.

"You'd never survive working on a crab boat, peanut butter is a staple." said Norman after taking a big swig of milk.

"Well thankfully I don't plan on working on a crab boat any time in the near or distant future. said Tess.

"Sorry about the job, Frank told us this morning. You and Stella are still going to stay aren't you? asked Norman.

"Yes, I just don't know how long." said Tess.

She and Stella had talked about losing the job and what it might mean for them in the future. Stella hadn't really said too much, but Tess could tell she was worried about having to leave.

"Alright Stella, ready to ride your bike?" asked Norman.

Stella nodded and ran to the door to get her coat and helmet. Tess grabbed her camera and went out to sit on her front step to get a few pictures of the proceedings.

Stella practiced for almost 2 hours and by the end she could go a few feet without Norman holding the back of the bike. She'd fallen quite a few times but never once thought of giving up. Once back in the house Stella went upstairs to change and grab her overnight bag.

"Tess, are you ok without the job? I mean financially?" asked Norman.

"Yeah, we really are. I just liked the job because I felt like I had something to fill my days and an excuse to see all you guys on the boats." said Tess sadly.

"You can always visit us, especially if you come bearing treats. You should start a bakery or a restaurant or something. We love eating your food." said Norman.

"Thanks Norman, I'll think about it." said Tess. "And thanks for walking Tess over to Margie's. Will you remind her to call me when you guys get there?"

"Sure thing. Maybe I'll see you later." said Norman."Maybe" replied Tess

With that Stella bounded downstairs handing her overnight bag to Norman and picking up her backpack.

"Bye mommy, I love you." said Stella giving Tess a big hug and kiss.

Tess watched Norman and Stella walk to the end of the block, once they turned the corner she headed back inside.

* * *

Meanwhile on the Cornelia Marie a plan was being hatched. Jake and Josh had decided that nothing got someone into a women's panties like a romantic dinner. The boys had wondered how they were going to pull a romantic dinner off without some serious help, but then the answer seemed to come from above. Specifically Phil yelling Murray's name over the hailer. Jake and Josh immediately cornered Murray in the engine room, away from prying ears and asked him through a combination of yelling and hand signals to help set up a nice dinner on the boat for Tess and Phil. Murray had agreed to get the dinner together, telling the boys it was their job to let Phil and Tess know. Jake and Josh were still in a heated debate about how best to accomplish that when Phil called over the hailer that everyone could call it a day.

"Dude, it's now of never." said Josh.

"We haven't even asked Tess if she can come, I think she's more important to this occasion than dad is." said Jake.

"I don't know. I think pop's going to take more convincing." replied Josh.

"Yeah, but dad doesn't need to get a babysitter for his kids does he?" countered Jake.

"I don't know about that" said Phil from the boys stateroom doorway "What are you two up to?"

Both Jake and Josh were shocked into silence. Then Jake began to talk.

"We just wanted to see if Tess wanted to come out tonight. Since Frank is taking back his job, we thought she might be a little down."

"Yeah, you know something kind of quiet. We were going to see if anyone could watch Stella." added Josh.

Phil looked from one boy to the other, believing nothing they were saying. Then heard Murray moving around in the galley. He was about to turn around to see what Murray was up to when Jake grabbed his arm pulling him into the stateroom while Josh closed the door.

"What the hell are you guys up to?" bellowed Phil. "This better not have the potential for serious damage."

"No, it doesn't. We just wanted to set up a nice dinner between you and Tess. " blurted out Jake.

"So much for subtlety little bro." muttered Josh.

"Like you were doing so much better. He was about to leave I had to stop him." said Jake turning his full attention to Josh.

Once Phil saw that the bickering was just starting he took the opportunity to sneak out the door. It took Jake and Josh a little more than 2 minutes before they realized that Phil had given them the slip.

"Fuck Me! This is a fucking nightmare. Where did the old man go?" said Josh when he and Jake had finished searching the boat.

"The Elbow Room, Tess' house, another boat." listed Jake.

"Alright, lets split up. You go to Tess' house and I'll go to the Elbow Room. Murray said dinner will be ready in an hour." said Josh.

"Fine." said Jake "call me if you find him and I'll do the same."

Both boys hopped onto the dock and headed out in different directions.

* * *

Tess was sitting at her table drinking some tea and sifting through her mail. There was another letter from Eleanor, this one more ludicrous than the last.

Dear Tessora,

Ethan is home, the doctors say that his nose will never be the same again. You are nothing more than a alley bitch to hit him like that. We've heard from our attorney that the police will be charging Ethan with assault on your person. I would encourage you to drop the charges. Any trip to court will surely bring up a lot of past indiscretions. I can assure you that we will do anything in our power to keep Ethan safe and it may be just what we need to bring little Stella back to the family she belongs with. Consider yourself warned.

Eleanor.

Tess could tell Eleanor was angry when she wrote the letter, some places the pen had pressed so hard that the paper was torn. She had no doubts the threats were real, but for some reason she didn't really seem to care. She felt herself slipping away, that the realness of the world began to fade, leaving just her and her sadness. In the back of her mind she felt an alarm, something in her brain telling her to stop thinking this way, that it will only lead to bad things. The sound was faint but not easily ignored, without realizing it Tess' feet had carried her to her bedroom. She quietly opened the door of her nightstand and removed a very care worn journal. She turned to the first page and started to read.

Tessora,

If you are reading this it means that you are going down a road you've gone before. You've recognized your symptoms and have remembered to find help. Sit down. Take a deep breath. Remember that you are loved, not only by others buy more importantly by yourself. You need not feel sad or downtrodden because life is not as bad as it seems. Through your sadness all seems lost, but in reality nothing is lost. You are still alive. Your purpose has not been filled, only God can tell you when you are finished with life. You can not take the process into your own hands. No matter how numb you've gotten no matter how hopeless you've become you need not take the step you are contemplating. Look around, see those around you who support you and lean on them. Leave the house, find a purpose no matter how small or insignificant, do something that makes you happy. Do not let the Sadness win, do not slip back into old ways. Remember the scar.

With all my love,

Tessora

Tess reread the letter a second time, then a third, and was about to read it again when the doorbell rang. Without thinking she set the notebook on her bed and went downstairs to answer the door.

* * *

Jake was shifting from one foot to another anxiously waiting for Tess to open the door. When she finally did, he took in her slightly dazed expression and wondered if she was ok. She stepped aside and he stepped into the house, starting to take off his jacket and realizing that he should keep it on, it was freezing in the house. He glanced at Tess and saw that she was wearing a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt, he thought she must be a popsicle, yet she didn't seem to notice the cold.

"So what brings you here?" asked Tess tiredly.

"I was just stopping by to see if my dad was here and to ask you something." said Jake.

"Your dad isn't here." said Tess.

"Ok. Did you have plans for tonight? Because my dad would really like to have dinner with you." said Jake.

Tess finally turned to look at him, "You came here looking for him, and now he wants to have dinner with me? That makes no sense."

"I know it doesn't, but will you trust me that he wants to." said Jake.

Tess stared at him, seemingly trying to decide if he was telling her the truth. Jake noted that she looked 100% better than when she'd answered the door her eyes were clearer and she seemed more alert.

"I suppose I don't really have anything to do tonight, Stella is with Margie and I haven't eaten yet. So I guess I will choose to trust you." said Tess. "Just give me a few minutes to get dressed."

Jake followed her upstairs explaining that he was waiting for Josh to text him back with the exact time dinner would be ready. Tess merely shrugged her shoulders and motioned Jake to sit on the bed.

Tess pulled a dress out of the closet and disappeared into the bathroom, pulling the newly erected door curtain closed.

Jake sighed and put his feet up on the bed. He pulled out his cell and sent a text to Josh saying Tess had agreed and was currently getting dressed. Hanging up the phone he leaned back against the pillow and looked around. Seeing the journal on the bed he picked it up, flipping though it haphazardly. It was mostly writing and he didn't really feel like reading anything personal. He was just about to close it when he saw a page listing medication. Each medication was listed in a column, followed by the dose, the side effects and what it was suppose to do. The medicine names read like a Latin textbook, but what they were for was easy to read. The list was like something out of One Flew Over the Cookoo's nest, anti psychotics, one that was suppose to stop voices, one that was suppose to relax the patient, one for helping to return short term memory after shock treatments, another was listed for stopping seizures and the last was one to stop violent outbursts. Jake heard Tess say something from the bathroom and immediately stuffed the journal under the pillow. He suddenly wondered if the plan to get his dad together with Tess was a big mistake. Tess just wasn't what she seemed.

Tess emerged from the bathroom wearing a knee length red dress. Jake's mouth dropped open at the sight of her. She looked amazing. He sighed, wondering why all the beautiful ones always turned out to be crazy. She asked if they were ready to go. Jake gave a nod. Tess turned around to reach a pair of shoes from the closet and Jake was treated to a very fine view of her legs. He decided if it didn't work out with his dad, he would take a crack at her crazy or not.

* * *

Josh had just left the Elbow Room, he hadn't found Phil but had found out from Norman that Stella was staying with Margie tonight. Josh felt confident that Tess would agree to come to dinner after all she really had no excuse. Turning down the docks he saw Phil in the wheelhouse of the Northwestern with Sig and Edgar. Just as he was about to hop over the railing and onto the deck he heard his phone beep. He read the text from Jake and realized that he needed to get Phil back to the boat quick. He looked down at the deck to see if anyone was around, he was about to give up and just go up to the wheelhouse and get Phil himself when Jake Anderson walked out onto the deck.

"Hey Jake, I need some serious assistance." said Josh as he jumped down onto the deck.

"What's up man? Your dad is up in the wheelhouse talking some serious smack about you and your brother." said Jake.

"Shit. I need to get him back to the Cornelia Marie asap, he has a date with Tess." said Josh while he paced on the deck trying to decide what his next move was going to be.

"Does Phil know he's going on a date?" asked Jake.

"No, not really, we mentioned it to him but he didn't think we were serious." explained Josh.

"You are so screwed. Sig just opened a bottle of Norwegian Vodka and a box of chocolates, they are going to be up there for a while." said Jake.

Josh opened up with a torrent of cussing, only stopping when he was forced to take a breath. He had no idea what to do.

"Why don't you just ask Tess to come here, I'm sure once Phil sees she's here he will get the idea that it wasn't a joke." suggested Jake.

"You are a fucking genius. I definitely owe you a couple of drinks at the Elbow Room later." said Josh as he hoped off the boat . He immediately dialed Jake's number and told him the change to the plan.

* * *

Tess and Jake walked down the docks talking about the worst pain they'd ever been in. They'd been going back and forth, Jake mentioning pulling his tooth while out at sea and Tess saying that she had a baby and that should trump all. Jake disagreed, mentioning the time he stuck a bait hook through his hand while Salmon fishing. Tess admitted that was probably pretty painful and didn't have one to top that. Jake stopped walking and stared at her. "What are you talking about? How about some crazy guy trying to kill you and all the cuts you got?" stated Jake.

"Honestly, I didn't really feel any of them, I wasn't afraid of dying. I was just happy knowing that Stella was safe." said Tess honestly.

The calmness in the way she said the words both surprised and awed Jake. He wondered if anyone would be willing to give up their life for him.

"You will feel the same way when you have a child." said Tess knowingly.

Jake just nodded and led her down the docks toward the Northwestern. He could see that the guys in the wheelhouse had seen them. Tess hadn't noticed anything, she was trying to watch her step, even though she was wearing flats the dock was still slippery.

In the Northwestern wheelhouse Sig, Phil and Edgar were watching Jake and Tess' progress down the dock.

"Where do you think they are going?" asked Phil.

"To your boat, for your dinner date." answered Edgar.

"I'm pretty sure the boys were just pulling my chain." said Phil.

"If I'm not mistaken they are coming here." said Sig as he looked out on of the windows.

Edgar immediately headed downstairs to help Tess onto the boat.

Once Jake saw Edgar appear on deck, he told Tess goodbye and took off down the dock towards the Cornelia Marie.

"Hey Tess, need a hand?" asked Edgar.

"Yes, and if you could do it without looking up my skirt I'd appreciate it." said Tess jokingly.

"Now that you said that, I'm going to have to look." said Edgar.

Edgar climbed up onto the railing and grabbed Tess's hand, helping her stand on the railing of the boat, then he hopped down and pulled her into his arms.

"Now that is certainly a nice way to get on a boat." said Tess. She was still in Edgar's arms and he didn't seem to have any intention of putting her down. He carried her all the way into the galley where he set her gingerly on the table. He went into the kitchen and retrieved a tumbler, then picked her up again and carried her into the wheelhouse. He set her down directly in front of Sig.

"Look what I found." said Edgar proudly.

"Hi, Sig" said Tess and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She turned and did the same to Phil.

"Tessie, I can't believe that you dressed up just to have chocolate and vodka with us." said Sig.

"You know I always love dressing up, but I was actually suppose to meet someone for dinner." she said looking sideways at Phil.

"You are kidding me. I'm going to kill those boys." said Phil.

"Well after a reception like that, how about a glass of Norway's finest." said Sig filling the glass Edgar had brought.

Tess accepted the glass and sipped at the fiery liquid. It was fairy easy to drink once she got use to the initial burn. Sig was telling her about what happened to Edgar after he gave Norman Stella's message. Tess made a big show of checking Edgar for bruises and giving his stomach a tender pat. Phil watched her joke and chat with Sig and Edgar, he thought she looked good enough to eat in that dress. If she really got dressed up for him he was lucky man indeed. The radio suddenly crackled to life.

"Cornelia Marie calling the Northwestern. Sig are you there?" It was Murray's voice.

"Yeah, I'm here. What's up Murray." asked Sig.

"Can you please send Phil and Tess over here, their dinner is almost ready and there will be hell to pay if they miss it." said Murray's slightly put out voice.

"Roger, I'll send them over right now." said Sig. "Well you heard the man."

Tess finished the rest of the vodka and handed the glass back to Edgar. He noticed that there was a little lipstick on the edge. "Sig, we now know which glass is her's." Sig grabbed the glass and placed it along with the bottle back in a small cabinet.

Phil took Tess' hand and helped her down the stairs and out onto the deck. He hopped onto the dock first and was about to pull her up when Edgar picked her up and handed her to him. Edgar bunched up her skirt in the process and got an eye full of her very small undies. As Tess looked down to thank Edgar she saw the look on his face. Instead of saying anything she merely scowled at him. Edgar merely waved innocently at Tess and Phil, then turned to walk back inside.

"Sig, you would not believe the underwear that girl has on. They are practically non existent. Phil is one lucky son of a bitch." said Edgar before popping a chocolate into his mouth.


	12. Part 12

***Author's Note: Thank you very much for all the reviews and encouragement.

The Cornelia Marie was bustling with activity. Murray's dinner was almost finished, he'd been working on it for the last few hours and it was perfect. The boys had set the galley table with a tablecloth and some candles. Their plan was to get dinner on the table and high tail it to the Elbow Room. Murray had just set the last plate on the table when they heard Jake say they were on their way. Josh quickly lit the candles and disappeared into the wheelhouse. He and Jake would be able to climb down the side ladder and escape onto the dock once Tess and Phil went inside. Murray on the other hand, casually grabbed his jacket and headed out onto the deck. He managed to get off the boat before Tess and Phil had seen him.

Phil and Tess walked casually towards the Cornelia Marie. Tess slipped on a wet spot of the dock, Phil deftly caught her hand to steady her. Even after she was safely upright neither let go, their hands remained clasped until they reached the boat. Phil hoped down onto the deck, swinging his legs over the railing. Once on the deck he looked up at Tess, the sight would be burned into to Phil's mind forever. The light was behind her, illuminating her body underneath the dress, her hair was blowing around her like a halo and she was laughing.

"So Phil, how do you suggest I get down there?" asked Tess through her giggles.

"I suppose you could just jump and I'll catch you." suggested Phil.

"What if I hurt you? I'd never live it down. I can see the headline now. 'Captain of Cornelia Marie found squished by date'." said Tess, now laughing even harder.

"I can catch you. But if you prefer to keep me safe then I suppose you will just have to climb down the railing like I did. You've been on this boat before, why is now so different?" asked Phil

"Well when I've been on this boat before I've been dressed more appropriately for scaling railings." replied Tess already stepping onto the railing. As she swung around so she could climb down, Phil got a marvelous view of her bottom. She was only a few steps from the bottom when her foot slipped and she slid the last few feet and ended up on her butt on a very cold, wet deck.

Phil was trying very hard to hold in his laughter. He didn't want to hurt her feelings and didn't even know if her feelings were the only thing hurt.

"Well if that isn't the perfect demonstration of how not to get on a boat I don't know what is." said Tess. With her comment, Phil's laughter bubbled out of him. Tess scrambled to her feet, kicking off her shoes into the direction of the bait station. Her little outburst reminded Phil of his kids when they had tantrums. Tess walked slowly towards the door to the galley, her wet dress clinging to her body. Phil followed a short distance behind.

Once inside Tess took stock of the damage, realizing that she needed to take the dress off in order to see the full impact the water had on it she asked Phil where the bathroom was. While Tess was in the bathroom Phil found a bottle of wine and a pair of wine glasses on the table. In the kitchen there was a small note from Murray saying that the plates were in the oven keeping warm and dessert was in the ice box. Phil poured out two glasses of wine and waited for Tess to reappear.

In the bathroom Tess was trying to dry off the dress, so far it was completely unsuccessful. She sighed in defeat, then wrapped a towel around herself and headed out into the galley.

"Phil, I need to borrow a shirt or something" said Tess.

To Phil's credit he managed to keep his mouth closed but just barely. The towel she was using was tiny, it barely covered from her breasts to the tops of her thighs. Her hair looked even more messy, like she'd just had really good sex. In her hand was her dress and even though Phil hadn't exactly heard what she said he assumed she'd said something about needing clothes to wear while the dress dried.

"Well, lets find something for you to wear, although you look good just how you are." said Phil his voice dropping to it's most gravely. Tess smiled a small blush lighting her cheeks. Phil took the dress out of her hand, laid it on the table and led her to his stateroom.

Phil was fairly relieved the room was still fairly clean. Tess sat down gingerly on the bed and looked around. The room had a double bed, a mounted flat screen tv, dvd player, stereo, bookcase and dresser. There was also a case of red bull in the corner with a case of cigarettes on top of it. Phil eyeballed Tess trying to decide if any of his clothes would actually stay on her. She looked tiny in the towel sitting amongst the pillows and blankets on his bed. He tamped down his baser desire to just go over and ravage her. He forced himself to turn back to the dresser, he pulled out a black v-neck cashmere sweater that he wasn't sure he'd ever worn and tossed it on the bed, next he grabbed a Cornelia Marie t-shirt and his final choice was a sleeveless shirt. Tess considered each option and finally decided on the sweater. Phil politely turned his back while Tess changed, even though he watched her every move through the mirror above the sink. He watched as the towel was dropped revealing 2 perfect breasts with pink nipples hardened because of the cold, his eyes just had time to travel down and notice that she was once again wearing a tiny pair of panties, this time they were pink.

Tess thought the sweater felt amazing, it's silky smoothness rubbing against her nipples making them even harder. She closed her eyes just enjoying the sensual feeling. When she opened them she saw that Phil had turned around and was watching her.

"I don't think anyone on the boat has pants that will fit you." said Phil.

"That's ok, I think this sweater is long enough to hide my goodies." said Tess as she turned around to pick up the towel. Phil saw a quick flash of pink and smiled, the sweater was the perfect length.

Back in the galley Phil picked up the discarded dress. "Do you want me to throw it into the dryer?"

"I'm pretty sure it's dry clean only." said Tess "But thanks for the offer." Phil shrugged, then took it into the bathroom and hung it over the bar in the shower. When he returned to the galley Tess was sipping at her glass of wine while flipping through a playboy magazine.

"You've got some very interesting reading material on this boat." said Tess dryly.

"Well what do you expect with a bunch of guys, Better Homes and Gardens?" retorted Phil.

"Very true" said Tess as she placed the magazine back where she found it.

"Ready to eat?" asked Phil. Tess nodded enthusiastically.

Phil walked to the oven, grabbing a pot holder and pulling out the two plates. He set them down on the table and slid in next to Tess. The plates had filet mignon, roasted potatoes and asparagus, Phi's favorite meal. Tess looked at the plate, the dinner looked fantastic. Both Tess and Phil dug in with gusto. During the course of dinner they finished off the bottle of wine. The conversation flowed as easily as the wine. They talked about their lives, marriage, families, children. Phil's love of Harley's and his desire to drive a cross country on one visiting all the states. Tess suggested he stop at Wall Drug, any road side freak show and any thing that claims to be the "world's largest" that he passes.

"You are a very unique woman, I never would have imagined you stopping at road side freak shows or the largest ball of twine. You seem more like a world traveler, seeing famous museums." commented Phil

"I have been to a lot of museums and I've enjoyed almost all of them. But I like seeing everything, big or small, important and insignificant and I love adventure. Sometimes the biggest adventures are found in the weirdest places." replied Tess happily.

"You seem really happy tonight." said Phil.

"I am. I wasn't earlier, but when Jake came over to ask me if you were at my house and then to tell me you wanted to invite me to dinner it reminded me that life isn't too bad." said Tess leaning over to put her head on Phi's shoulder. As he looked down he could see the tops of her breasts through the V neck of the sweater. Tess glanced into Phil's face and realized what he was eying and smiled.

"I don't think I've ever seen one of my sweaters look so nice." said Phil. Then he got up from the table to clear the plates. "How about we check out the dessert?"

"Sure, do you need any help?" offered Tess.

Phil popped open the fridge and saw the bottle of champagne, bowl of strawberries, and whipped cream. Clearly the boys were hoping for romance. Phil placed the strawberries and cream on the table. Tess got up and rinsed the wine glasses out and dried them.

"Lets go up to the wheel house, I want to show you something." said Phil. Tess nodded and followed him up the stairs carrying the glasses.

The lights were off in the wheelhouse and the night looked crisp and clear through the windows. Tess had never been in the wheelhouse of the Cornelia Marie and from this vantage point the boat seemed gigantic. Phil noticed that she was pressed against the glass windows peering down, she looked as if she was memorizing every inch of the deck bellow. Her eyes looked as if they were glowing. She finally finished her study of the boat and turned her attention back to Phil. He had set the strawberries and cream on the bench seat and was in the process of opening the champagne. Tess brought the wine glasses over.

"It's really beautiful up here. Your boat is gigantic." said Tess

"If you think this is beautiful you should see the view when you are at sea." said Phil thoughtfully. "Truly there is nothing more awesome than just you and the sea. It makes you realize how small you really are."

"I bet it's amazing." said Tess.

"Maybe I'll take you out someday." said Phil.

"Take me out where?" asked Tess.

"The Bearing Sea." said Phil.

"That's a nice offer, but I don't know how I'd do. I've never been on a boat like this before." said Tess

"I bet you'd do fine." said Phil.

"Maybe, as long as we aren't doing it tonight then I'm willing to agree to do it sometime in the future." explained Tess. "It's not like I'm worried I won't like it, I just don't want to have to clean up all the vomit."

Phil just chuckled. He handed Tess a glass of champagne. She tapped her glass to his and took a sip, then she picked up a strawberry and dipped it in the cream. Phil watched as she placed the strawberry in her mouth, sucking off some of the cream then stretching her lips around the fruit before taking a bite. It was erotic and reminded him of her lips being stretched around something else. He took a drink of champagne and wondered where the night would lead.

"Who's watching Stella?" Phil asked suddenly.

"Margie. Stella's staying over night then Margie is taking her to school in the morning." Tess replied. "Why do you ask?"

"I was just wondering if you had to be home at a certain time." said Phil.

"Trying to get rid of me already?" teased Tess.

"Definitely not trying to get rid of you." said Phil pulling Tess to him. He took her glass and set it down next to his. Then picked up a strawberry and dipped it in the cream. He coated Tess' lips with the cream, fed her the fruit. then claimed her mouth in a searing kiss. Tess' hands immediately threaded through his hair, scratching at his scalp, then her hands pulled down brushing his ears with her fingers. He'd never had a woman do that to him before, but he wanted Tess to do it to him again and again. Her fingers continued to play with his earlobes caressing them then running her nails lightly over them. Phil couldn't take the sensation anymore and broke the kiss.

"What are you doing to my ears?" he asked slightly breathless.

"I can't help it, I have a huge ear fetish. I can't keep my hands off them." said Tess hungrily.

"Do you like it when I touch your ears?" asked Phil, reaching out to gently caress her earlobe. He didn't even need to hear her response because her body language told him she loved it. Her eyes closed and she instinctively leaned forward. He smiled to himself and reached out to touch the other ear.

"Please kiss me." whispered Tess. Phil pulled her towards him and sealed his mouth to hers. He picked her up and carried her over to the captains chair where he sat down settling her in his lap. Tess noticed the change of position and opened her eyes, all she could see were computer monitors and she couldn't help but wonder what would happen if her but hit one of the buttons.

Phil's hands roamed her body over the sweater before finding the hem and slipping underneath. Her skin was soft and warm. His hands seemed to have a mind of their own traveling down her back and onto her bottom. He found himself squeezing her and moving her forward, until she was rubbing his cock through the fabric of his jeans. The first time she deliberately ground her mound onto him his eyes rolled back in his head. The friction was wonderful. His hands moved to the front of the sweater, pulling it up as he went. When her breasts were bared to him he palmed them with both hands, feeling their weight and flicking his thumbs over the nipples. Tess sighed and thrust her breasts into his hands. She felt as if all her nerve endings were firing at once. She'd forgotten how making out felt, how much she enjoyed it and how long it had been since she'd done anything like this. Just as Phil started to feast on her breasts the radio crackled to life.

"Cornelia Marie, this is Northwestern. Do you copy?"

Phil didn't take his mouth off Tess' breast as he reached up to pull down the radio receiver.

"Sig, this had better be good because my mouth is full." said Phil.

"I'm sure you do, but I wanted to let you know that some of your crew is heading back to the boat." said Sig.

"Roger. Thanks." said Phil dropping the radio. He gave Tess one last quick kiss then pulled the sweater back down. He wasn't sure what to do, he supposed he could just take her to his stateroom and finish what they started, however soon the boat would be full of nosy boys. Which was a risk he wasn't sure he wanted to take.

Tess quickly scrambled off his lap. "We should go to my house." she announced.

"Great idea." said Phil, standing up then casually adjusting himself.

Tess walked down the stairs into the galley to pick up her purse with Phil right behind her.

"What about your dress?" asked Phil. Tess smiled wickedly then said "leave it. It will take them hours to figure out where we are."

Phil smiled grabbed a jacket and followed her out on deck. She was still wearing only the sweater but in the darkness of night it simply looked like a short dress. Instead of heading to the railing she started walking towards the bait station.

"Where are you going?" called Phil.

"I have to find my shoes." replied Tess.

"Leave them, I'll carry you." said Phil already climbing up the railing.

"Fine." said Tess. Abandoning her search she hoisted herself onto the dock like an acrobat.

"Wow." said Phil.

"Those shoes really made it hard, nothing is better than bare feet for climbing." smirked Tess.

They quickly made their way along the dock, trying to stay in the shadows. Not that they were embarrassed about where they were going, they just wanted their whereabouts to remain a mystery as long as possible.

* * *

Jake and Josh were trailing behind Freddie begging him to come back to the Elbow Room for another drink. They'd been trying to keep him from returning to the boat for the last hour.

"Listen guys, I'm tired, I want to go to bed. Whatever you guys have cooking I promise not to say or do anything." said Freddie.

Jake and Josh stopped walking for a moment.

"Well they've been there for a while, I'm sure they are done eating. " said Josh.

"Yeah, which means they are probably busy screwing and Freddie is going to interrupt them." said Jake.

"We certainly don't want to miss that do we." said Josh.

"Nope." added Jake. They both ran to catch up with Freddie.

Sig and Edgar watched the progress from the Northwestern's wheelhouse. Norman had gotten back to the boat a few minutes ago and immediately started telling Sig and Edgar about Jake and Josh trying to keep Freddie from going back to the Cornelia Marie. They filled Norman in on what was probably happening over there. Norman smiled and told Sig he should radio Phil and give him a heads up, if only for Tess' sake. Sig agreed and radioed over to Phil. Neither of the Hansen's had seen anyone leave the Cornelia Marie, so when they saw Freddie walking up the dock followed closely by Jake and Josh they felt almost certain Phil was about to be caught in a very compromising situation.

Freddie jumped onto the deck, followed by Josh and Jake. He spun around to tell the boys to get off his back when he noticed something was sitting in one of the bait bins. When he went to investigate he found a pair of ladies shoes.

"What the hell are these doing on here?" asked Freddie. Jake and Josh just shrugged. In the galley the two dinner plates were in the sink and the staterooms were all quiet. Freddie went to the bathroom and came out holding the red dress.

"What the hell is this?" asked Freddie.

Jake and Josh shared a look of triumph. "Well if my calculations are correct there is a naked, shoeless girl somewhere on this boat." said Josh gleefully.

"I suggest we find out where." added Jake.

With that all three men started their search. They found the champagne and strawberries in the wheelhouse, but nothing else. They checked all the staterooms, when they got to Phil's they banged open the door expecting to see something in progress, instead it was empty. After that Freddie went to bed leaving Jake and Josh to continue the search on their own. They checked every part of the boat, including the engine rooms and all the crab tanks.

"Where could they be?" said Josh.

"It doesn't make sense. She doesn't have her dress on and she's not wearing any shoes. No one in their right mind would leave a boat like that." said Jake.

"You don't think they fell overboard do you?" said Josh suddenly walking towards the rail.

"No, I don't think they did." said Jake with a huff of frustration.

Both boys went back up to the wheelhouse and finished off the champagne.

"Wherever they are I hope they are having fun." said Josh before passing out on the bench seat, while Jake dozed in the captains chair.


	13. Part 13

**Caution Smut ahead**

Tess and Phil made it to her house in record time. Once they were off the docks Phil carried Tess over a few rocky patches and up to her house. They were breathless when they arrived. Tess quickly unlocked the door and pulled Phil inside. They were both flushed from the exertion of the trip.

"I'm thirsty" exclaimed Tess walking to the kitchen. She pulled out a bottle of champagne from the bottom of the fridge and handed it to Phil. Next she stood on her tip toes to reach a pair of flutes from a top shelf. Phil watched the sweater rise higher and higher until it showed the roundness of her bottom. Realizing she wasn't going to be able to reach she gingerly pulled herself onto the counter and grabbed the glasses. When she turned around, glasses in hand she looked like she was in a photo shoot from Maxim. Her legs were slightly spread as she sat on the counter, in a mans sweater with just a swath of pink panties showing between her legs. Phil walked to her and plucked the glasses out of her hands, set them on the counter and kissed her. The kiss was wet and sloppy and full of the promise of things to come.

Leaving the champagne forgotten in the kitchen the pair moved up the stairs, pausing every few steps to kiss. Once they arrived in Tess' room things slowed slightly, as if both realized what was about to happen.

"You look positively amazing in that sweater." said Phil as he ran his hand over the fabric. "But I think it would look even better off." Without ceremony he pulled the sweater over her head.

"I think you are a little overdressed" said Tess and reached to pull Phi's shirt over his head. She took a moment to admire his chest before her hands drifted down towards the buttons of his jeans. Before she reached her goal her hand stroked over a particular sensitive patch of skin and Phil flinched.

"Don't tell me you're ticklish?" teased Tess flicking her fingers over the same spot.

"No, just sensitive there." said Phil trying to edge away from her questing fingers. Realizing that she wasn't going to be easily moved he flipped her onto her back and started kissing her neck before moving down her collar bone to her breasts.

Tess moaned and stretched her hands behind her head. Her fingers hit a solid object and she stopped. Arching her back she tried to look back to see what she was touching. As she looked she realized that it was her journal. She needed to get it off the bed. So seeing that Phil was still feasting on her breasts, she merely pushed the book under the pillow and through the crack between the headboard and the mattress. She breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the quiet thunk when it made contact with the floor.

Phil gave each breast a parting kiss and then began moving down Tess' body, paying special attention to her belly button before teasing the tops of her underwear with his tongue. They were ridiculously tiny and he could see they had a small embroidered patterns on them. He looked up into Tess' face and saw that she was watching his every move. Her eyes were bright and she had a wonderful look of happy expectation on her face. Not wanting to disappoint her he removed the last obstacle to his desire. Flinging the underwear over his shoulder he was greeted by the sight of a completely bare pussy. He looked up at her and quirked an eyebrow, Tess just smiled and spread her legs slightly in silent agreement of what was coming.

Phil dipped his head and tasted her, he traced his tongue around her outer lips before dipping in to find her clit. Once that was located he moved south and found her wet and ready. Moving his mouth back up to her clit he inserted a finger into her. He could feel her body tighten around it and realized that she was going to be ridiculously tight. The thought of slipping into her made his head spin. He sped up his actions and added a second finger, he felt her body start to spasm as he sucked her clit and pumped his fingers in and out. In just a few minutes he felt her body clamp down on his fingers and heard Tess cry out as her orgasm washed over her.

Phil stood up and quickly divested himself of the rest of his clothing. He climbed back onto the bed and lay down next to Tess.

"I haven't done this in a long time." said Tess quietly.

"It's like riding a bike, you never forget." said Phil.

Tess leaned in and kissed him, licking her essence from around his lips, then dipping her tongue into his mouth. Phil had been with many women and kissing after oral sex was always touchy. Tess initiating the kiss had completely dissolved the worry of whether or not he should kiss her. He lost himself in the kiss and the feel of her naked body next to his. With surprising strength Tess pulled Phil on top of her. She reached down and guided him to her entrance. Phil pressed in, it was tight, really tight and for a minute he worried he was going to hurt her. He looked into her eyes and noticed that she was taking some really deep breaths and trying to force herself to relax. Once her eyes opened he pressed in until he was buried to the hilt, all the way in he held still allowing her time to adjust to his size. When her hips tilted up he took it as the signal to move. It felt wonderful, she was wet and warm and their bodies seemed to move in a seamless rhythm. Phil wanted to feel her cum around his cock and tried different angles until he found the one that ground his pubic bone against her clit. He pounded into her rubbing her clit every time, he was just on edge when he felt the first fluttering of her orgasm. He gritted his teeth and tried to hold on long enough for her to cum. Once her orgasm hit he felt her walls collapse, it immediately triggered his own release, their combined cries of ecstasy filled the air.

Phil rolled over taking Tess with him. She lay with her head on his chest listening to his heart race. As he tried to catch his breath he realized that he was still sheathed inside her. The sex had been wonderful, but he had been expecting some sort of d/s kink to come out. He was still pondering what sort of kinks he would be willing to try when he noticed that Tess was sitting up.

Tess felt fantastic and a little naughty. Phil was right, it was just like riding a bike. He'd stretched her and she felt deliciously sore. When she realized he was still inside her she wondered how long it would take her to get him hard again. She sat up and started to squeeze her inner muscles.

"So Phil, now that I have you in my clutches I can tickle you mercilessly" said Tess as she rubbed her palms over his chest and down to his stomach. Phil didn't flinch this time, he was too occupied with what she was doing to his cock. Tess bent down and ran her tongue over his flat nipples, blowing on them to make them hard, then nipping at them gently with her teeth. Phil bucked up against her as her teeth slipped over his nipples. He could feel himself start to harden within her.

Tess leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on Phil's lips, then moved across his cheek to his ear. This time instead of caressing it with her fingers, she took the lobe into her mouth and sucked on it, rubbing her teeth over it lightly, nipping it slightly before moving onto the other. Phil smiled, he'd never had so much attention lavished on his ears before. Tess seemed to love them. Tess nipped at his other ear then moved to look into his eyes. Her gaze was bright, clear and full of mischief.

"What would you do if I chained you to my bed? Kept you here just to satisfy my pleasure?" asked Tess.

"I couldn't think of a better job to have." replied Phil, reaching up to cup a breast. She rocked herself against him, adding friction to her squeezing and was rewarded as he hardened further.

Phil pulled her down and sealed his mouth to hers. He lapped at her tongue and explored the crevices of her mouth. Then pulled his mouth away from hers only to move her hair to the side and suck her ear into his mouth. He tried to remember what she had done to his ears and do the same to hers. She writhed against him and as he switched to the other ear he felt her hand move down his body. He felt her hands run through his course hairs and then he felt her knuckles rub against him as she touched herself. He felt her hand movements grow more frantic, he bit her earlobe lightly, that was all it took and she screamed as she came.

The contracting of her muscles brought him to full erectness, he moved his hips up to meet hers as she thrust down on top of him. She looked glorious riding him, taking her pleasure just as frantically as he was taking his. He couldn't get a good enough foot hold to thrust deep enough and decided they should change positions. He picked up Tess and set her down on her knees, he placed his hands on her hips and drove home. In this position he got even deeper, her could feel himself hitting her cervix. In a fit of whimsy he spanked her.

"Do it again." said Tess. So he did, over and over until her bottom was a pink. He leaned over her to tug on her nipples, and whispered into her ear. "Play with yourself." It was an order not a request and Tess' hand immediately found her clit and rubber herself frantically. Her orgasm hit her and instead of tapering off it just seemed to build, one after another washing over her. Phil felt as if his whole body was tingling, he felt her pussy pulsating around him and he pounded into her until he reached completion.

He collapsed on to of her, rubbing his hips over her tender bottom. Tess felt completely sated. Phil rolled off onto his side, his eyes were already closing as he surrendered towards sleep. Before he completely fell asleep he grabbed Tess by the waist and pulled her to him. They slept that way until Tess' alarm went off at 6:45.

The shock of waking up to an alarm and not someone knocking at his door or shaking his shoulder was unnerving. He opened his eyes and saw Tess turning off the alarm, her bottom still showing redness from where he'd spanked her. He admired his handy work and reached to gently rub his hand over the pinkness.

Tess smiled over her shoulder at him. "What time do you have to be back at the boat?" she asked.

"I don't know, I doubt anyone is up yet." replied Phil pulling Tess in for a kiss. "Why are you trying to get rid of me?"

"Nope, just wondering if you have time for breakfast and anything else." said Tess seductively. Phil smiled in response and pulled her on top of him. They made love leisurely simply enjoying the feel of each others bodies, learning what their likes and dislikes. They showered together and Tess washed Phil's hair for him he returned the favor by washing her body, paying special attention to a few select parts. Tess fixed a quick breakfast and Phil was out the door and back to the boat by 8.

* * *

Phil walked down the docks, waving casually to Norman who was having his coffee on the deck of the Northwestern. As he hopped onto the dock of the Cornelia Marie he noticed that all was quiet. He quickly went into his stateroom and changed clothes. Tess had given him back the sweater she'd used the night before, instead of putting it in the dirty clothes pile he tucked it underneath his pillow. He quickly changed clothes and headed up to the wheelhouse.

"What are you guys doing up here?" bellowed Phil upon entering the wheelhouse.

Both Jake and Josh moaned before turning their attention to their dad. They both took in his expression and his general state of well being.

"You look well rested." said Josh as he tried to sit up.

"Don't change the subject, what are you guys doing up here?" asked Phil again.

"Where were you last night? We looked everywhere." said Jake, not even bothering to open his eyes.

"Why were you worried?" said Phil sarcastically.

"Well we did set up a nice dinner for you and Tess and when we get back we find her dress and her shoes but not her or you." said Josh.

"So you searched the boat and decided to come up here and wait?" said Phil.

"We wanted to clean up." said Jake waving the empty bottle of champagne.

"It's looks like you did a terrible job. Why don't you both get dressed and start re-stringing the pots." said Phil, picking up the empty bowls and carrying them down to the galley.

"Well, what do you think?" asked Josh "He certainly seems a little happier."

"Are you kidding? He barely yelled at us and he's cleaning up himself. He totally got laid." replied Jake.

The boys gave each other a high five and went down to get dressed.


	14. Part 14

Tess walked around her house with a ridiculous grin on her face. She felt like she was floating instead of walking. She cleaned up the kitchen and put away the champagne and the glasses. Next, she got dressed and headed out to the grocery store.

Margie gave Stella a quick hug and watched her walk into her classroom. Just as she turned around to walk back to the car she was stopped by a man in a suit.

"Are you the parent or guardian of that child?" said the man.

"I'm her temporary guardian today, who are you?" asked Margie.

"I'm with social services, I've been sent by her grandparents to investigate her treatment." he explained.

"Her mother is doing a fantastic job and those people who hired you are monsters." said Margie.

She quickly walked back to the post office, she needed to get a hold of Tess immediately. At the post office Margie quickly dialed Tess' home number, she got the machine then hung up and called her cell phone.

"Hello?" answered Tess

"Tess, I need to talk to you right away, can you come by the post office." explained Margie.

"Um, sure. I'm just at the store, I'll pay and be right over." said Tess "Is Stella ok?"

"She's fine, at school. I'll explain more when you get here." said Margie.

Tess was just loading up the last of the groceries into the truck when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Tessora?" said an unfamiliar voice.

"Yes" said Tess turning to face the voice.

"I'm afraid you've been warned multiple times to come home. I'm here to insure your compliance to the family's request." said the man. "You have until Monday to get your life packed up and say goodbye to your friends." With that he walked away.

Tess was shaking when she got into the truck. She drove over to the post office to talk to Margie.

Margie could tell something terrible had happened, Tess was white as a sheet when she walked into the mail room.

"You saw the guy?" said Margie.

"He said I have until Monday to get everything together and go back to California with him." said Tess. "I don't know what to do."

"You can't go back to that family. They will kill you." said Margie. She was worried, the man was menacing, she wondered if Tess would even make it back to California.

"They are going to find me." said Tess with a defeated sigh. "Stella would be fine there, they would take very good care of her."

"What about you?" said Margie.

"I wouldn't really survive, that's probably their plan." said Tess "Even if they didn't hurt me, I wouldn't survive."

"You've got to run, leave here." said Margie already formulating a plan in her mind. "Go out with one of the boats."

"What about Stella?" said Tess.

"She'd have to go too, you need to disappear without a trace." explained Margie. "It would probably only take one trip, just go out let then they'll come and search for you and when they are satisfied you aren't here you can come back."

"That's insane." said Tess.

Margie wasn't listening, she was already calling Frank on the phone. "Go home and start packing, no suitcases they are bad luck. We will find a boat." called Margie over her shoulder.

Tess went home, unpacked her groceries and stared at her house. She walked through each room taking inventory of what she could abandon. Most of the furniture could be left, the pictures would be taken, as would the clothes. Stella only had a few favorite toys that would need to be taken. Tess pulled two huge duffle bags out of her closet and started piling clothes into them. She grabbed her journal and some other personal items she couldn't bear to leave behind.

* * *

Frank had just hung up with Margie. He wasn't sure what to make of Tess' situation. In fact he was fairly sure that Margie was making it seem worse than it actually was. But he'd try his best to find a boat for her and Stella to go on. His first call was to the Northwestern.

"Hello?"

"Sig, it's Frank. Margie thinks Tess and Stella need to disappear for a while and wants to put them on a boat for the first run of red crab."

"What's going on, specifically." asked Sig.

"I guess some guy is in town, planning to take her and Stella back to California whether they want to or not. Marg is convinced the only way to keep her safe it to make it look like she's made a run for it." explained Frank.

"We'll take her, but before you tell her to come to us, you should call Phil on the Cornelia Marie and tell him." said Sig.

"Thanks" said Frank.

Frank dialed Phil's number wondering why Sig wanted him to call.

"What?"

"Phil, it's Frank." Frank repeated his story about Tess and Stella needing to get out of town. "We'll take them, when will they be ready to leave?" asked Phil.

"Um, Margie sent Tess home to pack a few hours ago. I don't know if she's actually doing it. Stella won't get out of school until 2:30." said Frank.

"Well, I'll call her or send one of the guys over to check on her progress." said Phil.

"Call Margie if you need anything. I'm glad I got your order processed first." said Frank.

"It must be fate." said Phil.

Frank hung up the phone and called Margie. She was relieved that everything was taken care of. She also agreed to call Tess and let her know the plan.

* * *

Phil headed down to the galley for a crew meeting. He wasn't sure how having Tess and Stella on the boat would work, but if it meant keeping her safe any inconvenience was worth it. He saw the guys collecting in the galley and waited until they were all there.

"Ok, we're going to have a few more bodies on this boat for our first run this season. Tess and Stella need to hide for a bit and they are coming with us. I know this is a lot to ask you guys, but it's important to me to keep them safe." said Phil.

"What happened?" asked Jake.

"I guess some guy's in town threatening to take her and Stella back to California whether they want to or not. Margie had the idea for them to disappear." explained Phil.

"It's fine by me." said Freddie, "Tess can cook and Stella can entertain us."

"So you guys are all fine with it?" asked Phil. Everyone nodded.

Phil was up in the wheelhouse going over everything with Margie. He didn't want the girls leaving the house until after dark, he was hoping for after 10. They needed to be able to slip by undetected, the less people saw them the better for the story about skipping town. Margie agreed to help, by staying at Tess' house, making it look like she and Stella were still there. He'd just hung up when Jake walked into the wheelhouse.

"Where are they going to sleep?" asked Jake.

"I don't know, my room. I barely use it anyway." said Phil absentmindedly.

"I'll go tonight to get them. I can carry Stella, make her look like a duffle bag or something." said Jake.

"I need you and Josh to buy them some raingear, just in case." said Phil as he handed Jake his credit card.

"We'll go now." said Jake already heading out of the wheelhouse.

"No TV's." called Phil to his retreating back.

* * *

Margie met Tess to pick up Stella at school. They stood together silently scanning the faces of the crowd for the man from earlier. He didn't appear to be there, but that didn't mean he wasn't watching them. Tess told Margie that she had packed 2 duffle bags and she had one more for Stella to put her toys in. Both women decided not to tell Stella until they were at home. Margie told Tess the plan was for them to get on the boat tonight. Tess merely nodded. They drove back to Tess' house together, got Stella a snack and all three of them sat down at the table.

"Stella, you won't be going back to school for a while." said Tess.

"Why?" asked Stella.

"Because, we are going on the Cornelia Marie for a while." explained Tess.

"Is this because of the man?" said Stella "I didn't talk to him at all and told the teacher he was trying to talk to me."

"He tried to talk to you?" said Tess outraged.

"During recess, he was on the playground and came over to me. He said that he was going to take me home to my real family." said Stella. "But I just ran to the teacher."

"Well, we are going to get away from the man and hide on the Cornelia Marie." said Tess.

"Ok. Can I take my blanket and ariel?" asked Stella.

"Of course. After your snack we will go up and you can pick out what you want to take." said Tess.

Margie sat quietly watching the exchange. She hoped that she had made the right decision. The plan was solid, but she wasn't sure how Stella or Tess would do at sea. She said a prayer that they'd have good weather and they'd stay safe.

Upstairs Tess and Stella had finished loading the bag with toys, blankets and some other toiletries. Tess felt they had everything they would need. She'd also started a pile of things that she wanted Margie to keep at her house. Mainly they were precious keepsakes, but they also included some of her kitchen stuff and Stella's new bike. The last thing she placed in the pile for Margie to take was her jewelry box, she'd thought of bringing it on the boat, but she'd run out of room. They had 3 duffle bags to take on the boat, which she thought was probably 1 too many.

Tess, Margie and Stella had a small dinner, all three seemed too distracted to eat. After dinner Tess packed up a box of food to take with them to the Cornelia Marie. The plan was to load the bags and food into the tuck, and while Tess and Stella would walk down to the dock, one of the boys would drive the truck down before the girls left the house. It would look to the casual observer as if it was just another delivery. Once everything was stacked and loaded into the truck all that was left to do was wait. Tess gave Stella a quick bath and changed her into some warm pajamas, then she let her watch some of the saved shows on the DVR. Once Stella was settled Tess showed Margie what she wanted her to save for her. Margie readily agreed and explained that she would stay in the house over the weekend, making it seem like Tess and Stella were still there. Tess just nodded, she felt overwhelmed with the kindness of this woman. She just hoped the plan worked and all their hard work wouldn't be for nothing.

* * *

Jake and Josh returned to the boat with 3 bags of stuff. They immediately took them up to the wheelhouse to show Phil what they'd bought. Both Tess and Stella had 3 pairs of raingear each, they also had long underwear and some heavy socks, finally a few pairs of deck boots. Phil nodded at the purchases and told the boys to put the bags in his room. Then he announced that he was going to talk to Sig and would be gone for a little while. Once he got back the plan would be set into motion.

Sig was out on the deck looking into one of the crab holds when he saw Phil approach his deck. With a quick nod Phil jumped down to the deck and walked towards Sig. Understanding that this was going to be a private conversation both men headed inside and up to the wheelhouse.

"So, how's the plan going?" asked Sig.

"All the prep work is done, now we are just waiting for the delivery of the cargo and the passengers." replied Phil.

"How do you feel about taking them out with you?" asked Sig.

"I don't know, I'm worried about their safety on the boat, but I think they'd be in more danger if they stayed." explained Phil.

"You are probably saving her life and Stella's too." said Sig. "So what happened last night? How did you and Tess escape?" asked Sig, trying to change the subject.

"We just walked down the dock and back to her house." hedged Phil. The smile on his face told Sig all he needed to know about how the night went from there.

"I wish you good luck this season. If you need anything while we're out, just ask." said Sig.

"Thanks." said Phil. "I just hope it all works out."


	15. Part 15

Phil walked back to the Cornelia Marie wondering which boy he should send to get Tess and Stella. He hopped aboard his vessel and looked around and noticed the crew had gotten the pots loaded and the deck was crowded. They were technically ready to go as soon as Stella and Tess arrived, however he didn't want to draw suspicion if he left before the rest of the fleet. Sig agreed that he would leave early with Phil, two boats leaving at the same time just meant they wanted to get a head start on the season. Phil sighed and headed in to tell Josh to go pick up the truck. He'd send Jake to get Tess and Stella later that night.

A few minutes later, Phil and Jake watched Josh walk gingerly down the docks.

"I think it will work out fine." said Jake confidently.

"We just need to make sure they stay inside while we are out at sea." said Phil. The coast guard was announcing the weather for the day and it suggested some winds but nothing too heavy. Phil said a small prayer that the weather would hold through the first trip.

Josh returned with the truck less than 30 minutes later. Jake went down to help him bring aboard the stuff. They were looking for a place to put it in the captain's stateroom. It was a mess and the boys decided to clean up a bit. Jake was just making the bed when he came across the sweater tucked under Phil's pillow. He picked it up and showed it to Josh.

"Have you ever seen dad wear this?"

"Nope, where did you find it?" replied Josh.

"Under the pillow, which is a weird place to put dirty clothes." said Jake.

"Are you sure it's dirty?" asked Josh.

"I'll check." said Jake giving the sweater a tentative sniff. His eyes immediately went wide as he recognized the scent of perfume. "It smells like perfume."

"Toss it over." said Josh. Deftly catching the sweater he smelled it. "I like this perfume, I think it's Tess' perfume."

"Well I guess that solves the mystery of how she left her dress here, she wore this sweater." said Jake smugly.

"Those two are sneaky, we are going to have to keep an eye on them." said Josh with a smile.

"It's going to be an interesting season, that's for sure." said Jake turning back to finish making the bed. "Hey lets put Stella in our room, that way it will give dad and Tess some more privacy. Besides if we don't he's going to be sleeping in our room with us."

"Sounds good, put the sweater back under the pillow" said Josh, tossing the sweater back to Jake. Jake just shrugged and stuffed the sweater under a pillow. They picked up Stella's toy bag and headed towards their room.

* * *

Tess was slowly wearing a hole in her entry way rug, she'd been pacing for the better part of the night. Stella had fallen asleep on the couch an hour ago and since then she couldn't sit still. Margie had given up on trying to calm her down and was reading through a magazine at the dinning room table.

Tess walked back into the dinning room with a piece of paper and a pen. She quickly wrote out a will for herself. She stopped and thought about who would care for Stella in the event of her death. It was a huge thing to ask someone and she wondered who would be willing to do it. She folded the paper and placed it in her bag, she'd decide later. Nothing would probably happen, but she wanted to be sure that Eric's family didn't get their hands on Stella in case something did happen.

The knock on the door startled Margie and Tess. Tess walked to the door and opened it, smiling at her was Jake Harris. She invited him in and led him to the living room. Jake looked down at Stella sleeping on the couch, she looked so small and innocent. Tess reappeared in a pea coat and a cap, she looked nearly unrecognizable, under the cover of night, no one would give them a second look. Tess handed Jake a dark green blanket to wrap Stella in. Once she was wrapped up and in Jake's arms he headed out the door. Tess said a quick goodbye to Margie and walked out the door. She and Jake walked in silence all the way to the docks, they didn't encounter a single person.

Josh and Phil were waiting on the dock of the Cornelia Marie when Tess and Jake walked up. Jake carefully passed Stella to Josh, who immediately took her inside. Tess and Jake hopped aboard and followed Phil inside. Once inside Tess shed her coat and cap, hanging them up on a hook. Josh signaled her to follow him, he took her into his stateroom, showing her that he'd tucked Stella into his bunk. She was covered with her princess blanket and was holding her Ariel doll to her chest. Tess gave Josh a fierce hug, tears shinning in her eyes. As they walked out Josh kept the door opened a crack so they would hear if Stella woke up.

"We put your stuff in dad's room." whispered Josh. Seeing that Tess was about to protest he added. "It was his suggestion." Tess merely nodded and followed Josh back to the galley.

Murray handed her a cup of coffee. Tess accepted is gratefully and took a small sip letting the liquid warm her insides.

"Welcome aboard. If you need anything don't hesitate to ask any of us." said Murray.

"Thank you all so much. Stella and I will try very hard to help in whatever way we can and stay out of the way when we can't." replied Tess gratefully.

"Awesome, you can take over my bait duty. said Josh.

"Um, sure what exactly does that entail?" asked Tess.

"Don't listen to him, you and Stella will be safest inside." said Phil. "Come with me I want to show you something."

Phil led Tess to his stateroom opening the door and leading her inside. She sat on the bed wondering what Phil had to show her. Tess looked around noticing that the room was much cleaner than it had been last time she'd seen it. She saw her duffle bags in a corner of the room. She hoped that she and Stella could do something to make the crews lives easier to pay them back for putting up with their intrusion. Phil turned around holding something yellow.

"What is that?" asked Tess.

"Raingear for you and Stella, just in case." answered Phil.

Tess picked up the raingear and tried it on, she felt like she'd just walked off the box of fish sticks. Phil laughed when he saw that the pants were long on her and that the sleeves of the jacket went past her hands.

"We can fix it so it fits you better, but if I didn't know better I'd say you looked like a fisherman." said Phil.

"Thanks." said Tess, then stood on tiptoe to give Phil a kiss. Phil deepened the kiss, removing the rain slicker at the same time. He tipped the suspenders down her arms and Tess stepped out of the raingear pants. He backed her up until her knees hit the bed and she sat down. She laid down on the bed and Phil laid down beside her. The bed was much smaller than her bed at home, Phil continued to kiss her winding his fingers through her hair. Tess reached up to touch Phil's ears and she felt him smile and break the kiss.

"Will you sleep in here with me tonight?" asked Phil.

"I want to, but what about Stella? She's going to be confused when she wakes up." said Tess.

"Josh and Jake have her all set up in their room. All her toys are in there and they made sure the bunk is safe in case she tries to roll out." explained Phil. Tess still looked unsure. "Why don't you go check on her then come back."

"Ok. I'll be back in a few minutes." said Tess.

* * *

Tess walked into the galley and didn't see anyone around. She walked towards the door Josh had shown her earlier and opened it a crack. Jake and Josh were sitting on the floor attempting to quietly organize Stella's toys into a plastic bin. Tess came in and sat down with them.

"She's fine, hasn't made a sound." said Josh.

"Good, she's usually a pretty sound sleeper." said Tess.

"Don't worry about her, as soon as she wakes up we'll hear her." explained Jake.

"Um, ok. If she needs anything just come get me. I'll be staying with your dad." said Tess thankful the low lighting hid her blush.

"We know, and we will knock if she asks for you." said Jake.

"Thanks, for everything." said Tess. She stood up, walked over to Stella and placed a soft kiss on her cheek. Then she waved to the boys and headed back to Phil's room.

The boat wasn't even sailing and it was already hard to walk around on it. Tess wondered if she'd be able to walk at all once they got out of the harbor. She supposed she'd have to learn if she wanted to do anything. Walking down the hall she passed Murray's room, the door was open and he was sitting in bed reading a book. Tess smiled as she passed, then stopped and walked back. "Are you reading the Three Musketeers?"

"Yes, it's one of my favorites." said Murray.

"Mine too." said Tess.

"Did you bring any books with you?" asked Murray.

"A few of my all time favorites and some for Stella." said Tess.

"Maybe we could trade if we finish our own books." suggested Murray.

"Sounds like a plan. Although I bet I'll have more time to read than you will." said Tess.

"You are welcome to my book collection any time." replied Murray.

"Thanks, good night." said Tess.

"Night." said Murray before turning back to his book.

* * *

Phil waited for Tess to return. He hoped she wasn't going to come back and say she was going to sleep with Stella. He turned back to the bed to turn down the bedding. When he picked up the pillow he found the sweater. He put it up to his face and smelled it, it still smelled just like her. He was rubbing it on his cheek when Tess waltzed into the stateroom.

"I love cashmere too." she said as she closed the door. By the time she'd turned around Phil had put down the sweater and was sitting on the bed patting the space next to him. Tess sat down beside him.

"Stella's fine, the boys are organizing her toys, they said they'd sleep there with her and would hear her wake up and if she asks for me they'll knock to get me. So I can stay with you." finished Tess, slightly breathless.

"Good." was all Phil said before he slipped his arm around her and pulled her in for a kiss. He loved the feel of her, the taste of her, he couldn't get enough of her. She was quickly divested of her shirt followed by her pants and socks. Phil noted that she was wearing green underwear this time and decided for the time being to leave them on. Tess pulled Phil's shirt off and managed to pull him on top of her while using her feet to push down his sweats. Phil's hand wandered down to her panties and pulled them down. Once they were both completely naked they began to explore each other's bodies. The caresses because more heated and soon they were both frantically moving into position. Once Phil breached her they relaxed and fell into a slow sensual rhythm. Tess bit her lip to keep from moaning and Phil also seemed to be trying to be as quiet as possible. Phil sealed his lips to hers as they peaked trying to keep their screams of ecstasy from escaping. Instead of getting dressed Phil merely pulled the blanket over their bodies and within seconds they were both fast asleep.


	16. Part 16

**Thank you for the reviews**

Stella woke up slowly, it seemed as if her bed was rocking her to sleep. She opened her eyes and saw that she was not in her bed. She sat up quickly and wondered where she was, she swung her feet over the side of the bed. Just as she was about to jump down Jake grabbed her around the waist and helped her down to the floor.

"Morning Stella, you're on the Cornelia Marie." said Jake, his voice still rough from sleep.

"Oh. Is my mommy here?" asked Stella, surveying the room.

"She is, she's staying in my dad's room. We thought you'd like to stay in here with us because we have room for your toys." said Jake pointing to the bin of toys in the corner.

Stella smiled and walked over to the bin and looked at her possessions. "I have to go potty." she said turning back to face Jake.

"I'll show you were it is." said Jake, opening the door.

Jake and Stella walked hand and hand to the bathroom. He waited outside for her to finish then took her into the galley to get her something to eat. It was early and only Murray was in the galley. He was drinking coffee and reading a newspaper. "Good Morning Stella. said Murray.

Stella hid part of her body behind Jake and said a very shy hello. Jake sat Stella down at the table and got her a glass of milk and brought out a few types of cereal to choose from. She chose the lucky charms.

"Those are Josh's favorite." remarked Jake as he poured Stella a bowl.

"Really? Mommy never really buys sugar cereal." said Stella. "But the little guy on the box is my favorite."

"After you eat I'll give you a tour of the boat." said Jake.

"Ok." said Stella before digging into her breakfast.

Jake sat back and watched her, she was scarfing down the cereal faster than he thought she should.

"Slow down Stella, there is plenty more if you want seconds." said Jake. Stella obeyed and slowed down. Jake suddenly realized that he was no longer the youngest person on the boat and now someone on board would actually follow his directions. He smiled as he poured himself a bowl of cereal and sat down next to Stella.

* * *

Tess was woken up by a very insistent mouth suckling her breast. She smiled and opened her eyes she could only see the top of Phil's head. She stretched, dislodging Phil's mouth. He looked up and saw that she was awake, he moved up to capture her lips in a kiss. He rolled over on his back settling Tess on top of him. She smiled and guided him into her, they both sighed when he was fully seated within her. She took her time, finding a rhythm that worked for both of them. Phil reached out to touch her clit, Tess was pinching and twisting her nipples, but when Phil started to work her clit she abandoned them in order to put her hands on his chest and go faster. The sound of slapping skin filled the cabin and soon they were both moaning in completion.

"Now that is the way to wake up in the morning." said Phil.

Tess smiled, stretched and got out of bed. She moved over to search through her bag for something to wear. Phil just watched her, she really had no problem revealing her body to him and he loved it. He was starting to realize all the benefits of her being on the boat. He would certainly have an outlet for all his pent up stress during the season.

"Where can I shower?" asked Tess.

"There is a bathroom right outside the my door, but you should probably put something on just in case one of the guys sees you. replied Phil.

Tess grabbed one of the Cornelia Marie t-shirts off the floor and put it on, it just covered her bottom. "Is this safe enough?" she asked.

"Probably" said Phil.

Tess smiled, gathered up her clothes and walked to the bathroom. Phil heard the shower start a minute later and decided to close his eyes until Tess got back.

There was a knock at his door. He opened his eyes and sat up, he could still here the shower running. He quickly secured the blanket around his waist then yelled, "Come In."

"Hi dad, I was just giving Stella here the grand tour." said Jake.

"Good morning Stella, did you sleep ok?" asked Phil.

"Yes, I had my blanket and my Ariel doll, and Jake and Josh were there, although I didn't really know that until this morning." said Stella in a rush.

"Well I'm glad the boys are keeping you company." replied Phil. "Did you get something to eat?"

"Yes, I got Lucky Charms cereal and milk. Jake made it for me." said Stella walking towards the bed.

Phil got a little nervous as she approached wondering exactly what she was going to do. Stella hopped up and sat on the very foot of the bed.

"Dad, do you know where Stella's clothes are? She wants to change out of her pajamas." said Jake.

Phil just pointed to the duffle bags on the floor. Stella hopped off the bed and unzipped her bag, she quickly found some pants and a long sleeve t-shirt with a princess on it. Without ceremony she stripped off her pajamas and changed into her new outfit with lightning speed. She dug around for a pair of socks and soon was dressed and ready to go.

She climbed up onto the bed and gave Phil a small kiss on the cheek then returned to Jake's side and placed her hand is his. "I'm ready" she announced.

"We will be touring the boat, if anyone asks." said Jake as he closed the door.

Phil let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and quickly hopped out of bed to get dressed.

Tess appeared just as Phil had pulled on his shirt. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a cable knit sweater. She folded the Cornelia Marie t-shirt and placed it on her duffle bag. She moved to the bed and quickly made it. As she turned around she noticed Stella's pajamas on the floor."Was Stella in here?" she asked.

"Yes, she and Jake were here. He was giving her a tour and she changed her clothes." explained Phil.

"Did she dress warm enough?" asked Tess.

"She was wearing jeans and a long sleeve shirt, she should be fine." replied Phil.

"I wonder if she ate anything yet." said Tess to herself.

"She did, some milk and lucky charms." said Phil.

"In that case I think Jake just made it to the top of her favorite's list. I never give her sugary cereal." said Tess with a laugh.

"Well they did seem pretty chummy. They were even holding hands when they left." said Phil.

"I'll have to keep an eye on those two." said Tess jokingly.

"I don't know about you, but I could use some coffee." said Phil opening the door for Tess.

* * *

Josh and Jake were in the galley with Stella when Phil and Tess appeared. The three of them were playing cards, specifically Uno with Stella's set of princess cards.

"Stella you better watch out, those boys are known to cheat." said Phil pouring himself and Tess cups of coffee.

"Mommy. I'm playing cards. If I win, Josh is going to let me do his bait duty." said Stella excitedly.

"Sounds like fun, what happens if he wins?" asked Tess leaning down to give her daughter a kiss.

"Um, I don't know." replied Stella as she turned back to the game.

Tess grabbed a banana off the counter and peeled it. She was thrilled the boys were taking such good care of Stella. She hoped the little girl wouldn't be too disappointed when they started having to actually work instead of play with her.

Freddie walked into the kitchen and immediately sat down next to Stella. He looked at her cards then over to the boys cards, then told her which one to play. Stella won the game with Freddie's help, she turned to Freddie and said. "Guess what! I just won Josh's bait duty."

"Really? Do you even know what that is?" asked Freddie.

"Nope, but I get to wear my special suit when I do it." said Stella excitedly.

"Well I hope you have a good time. I'm sure Josh will love teaching you." said Freddie.

Josh laughed and gave Stella a big high five. Then he took her hand and together they went to get her raingear on.

"Will she be safe out there?" asked Tess.

"Of course, we can watch them from the wheelhouse." said Phil. "Jake will be supervising."

Jake took the hint and went to the ready room to get his raingear on.

* * *

Murray was just coming up from the engine room when he saw Josh and Stella walking out on deck. They were both wearing identical outfits in bright orange. Stella's fit her perfectly and she looked adorable in it. Josh was carefully guiding her across the deck to the bait station. Stella looked like her head was on a swivel, her head was turning back and forth with nauseating speed.

"Hello again Stella." said Murray

"Hi Murray." said Stella, she'd completely lost the shyness she'd had earlier.

"Josh, do you want me to bring up some frozen herring for you?" offered Murray.

"Not necessary, Jake is bringing it up now." replied Josh.

"He's our boss today." said Stella.

Murray smiled and wished the pair good luck before heading inside. Jake appeared on deck with a few boxes of frozen herring. He carried them over to the bait chopper and set them down. Josh turned over a bait bucket so Stella could stand on it. He ran the bait chopper and pulled the prepared herring down and piled it in front of Stella. He handed Stella a red bait bag and showed her how to stuff it. She quickly reached her bare hand in and picked up a handful of herring and stuffed it into the bag. She stuffed until the bag was completely full. Josh then showed her how to pull it shut and then where to hang it. Stella and Josh continued to fill bait bags until they were out of herring. Jake watched in silence feeling that something was wrong with the picture, but couldn't quite put his finger on it. It wasn't until they were done and Josh went to give her a high five did he realize that she wasn't wearing gloves. Her hands were so white they looked almost blue. Josh's eyes went wide and he turned to Jake.

"I didn't put her gloves on."

"Oh no." said Jake walking around to look at Stella's hands. They looked terrible. "Let's get her inside."

Jake and Josh walked Stella gingerly across the deck and inside. In the ready room they got her out of the raingear and headed towards the galley. Josh walked her to the bathroom and started to run her hands under cool water.

"Stella, are you ok?" asked Josh.

"Yes, why?" said Stella.

"No reason, it's going to take us a little while to wash the fish off your hands, so you'll have to be patient." explained Josh. He turned up the water a little more and watched her reaction.

"Shouldn't we use soap?" asked Stella.

"Um, in a little bit, right now we just want to use water." said Josh. Stella just shrugged and watched the water wash over her hands. Josh noticed that they were turning pink, he steeled himself for the screams he assumed would start once feeling returned to her hands. However, she continued to just stand quietly. Josh finally got the water to warm and put some soap in his hands and washed Stella's hands in him. He carefully moved the soap under her short nails and up to the middle of her forearm. She stood quietly for the entire process, it was only after Josh had dried her hands and opened the door that she spoke.

"That was fun, can we do it again tomorrow?" said Stella hopefully.

"I'd love to." said Josh sincerely.

Jake was waiting anxiously in the galley listening with strained ears for sounds of distress from Stella. When Stella and Josh appeared looking no worse for wear, he let out the breath he was holding.

"I'm hungry" announced Stella.

"Me too" said Josh.

"Where's mommy, she should make us lunch, she's a good cooker." said Stella.

"Well lets go find out." said Jake.

* * *

Tess was in the wheelhouse, sitting on the bench seat reading a book. She'd watched Stella and Josh fill bait bags and when they came back inside she'd gone back to her book. Phil was looking over charts and planning his season. He and Sig had decided to leave at 12:01am, Saturday morning. He'd heard chatter over the radio of other boats doing the same. He'd gotten a call from Margie saying that everything was fine at the house. He'd relayed the message to Tess who looked relieved to hear that so far the plan was working. Murray had given him the all clear as far as the engine was concerned, so Phil felt confident that he was prepared to leave. He sighed as he heard a commotion coming up the stairs. Just as he turned he saw Stella appear followed closely by Jake and Josh.

"I'm ready for lunch." said Stella to her mother.

"Ok. Let's go see what we can make." said Tess. "Phil what would you like?"

"Didn't you know, he doesn't eat on this boat. His entire diet consists of cigarettes and red bull." said Josh.

Phil gave Josh a dirty look then replied "I'll have whatever Stella has."

"Sounds good, I'll bring it up to you." said Tess.

When the group arrived in the kitchen Tess went to the pantry and fridge to gather supplies. She went to the box she'd brought on board. She pulled out a few cans of canned tomatoes and some basil. Before long the boat was filled with the delicious smell of tomato soup. She whipped up a few grilled ham and cheese sandwiches and lunch was done. Jake helped her serve the lunch and called the rest of the crew to come eat. Jake and Josh were shown the proper way to dip their sandwiches in their soup by Stella. Murray sat next to her and was even asked to blow on Stella's soup for her. Tess made up a plate for Phil and took it up to the wheelhouse.

Phil sat on the bench seat eating his lunch. The food soothed his empty stomach, once he started eating he realized how hungry he had been.

"This is delicious. What brand of soup is it?" asked Phil

"It's homemade." replied Tess.

"You made homemade tomato soup from scratch in the galley kitchen?" asked Phil in an astonished voice.

"Yes, it really wasn't that hard." said Tess.

"I can't wait to see what you can make when we are out at sea." said Phil

"I suppose we will just have to wait to find out." replied Tess saucily.


	17. Part 17

Dinner was a subdued affair, the conversation centered around what needed to be done before the boat could leave. Phil and the boys were going to the Elbow Room for one last drink with the other crews. Tess and Stella would be left on the boat for a few hours by themselves. Tess assured Phil that they would be fine. Everyone left shortly after dinner, Tess and Stella busied themselves doing the dishes and cleaning up the galley. After that they went into Stella's room and played with some of her toys. Tess dug out a puzzle and she and Stella started working on it in the galley. They had just finished when Jake and Josh returned to the boat.

Tess immediately went over to Jake, his lip was busted and his nose was bleeding.

"What happened?" asked Tess.

"Got in a fight, it's no big deal." said Jake. Tess turned to look at Josh who just shrugged.

"Get me some ice and wet towel." said Tess. Stella headed to the bathroom to wet a washcloth while Josh pulled some ice out of the freezer. Tess quickly sat down at the galley table moving so Jake's head was in her lap, she placed the ice on his lip and used the washcloth to wipe the blood off his face. Once he was cleaner she could see that his nose wasn't broken and that his lip was cut, but it wasn't too deep. Jake had closed his eyes and seemed to be enjoying her fussing over his injuries. Tess set down the washcloth and started running her hands though Jake's hair. Stella crawled onto Jake's lap and inspected his face, without opening his eyes he hugged her to his chest.

"Are you ok Jake?" asked Stella from her spot on his chest.

"Yea Stella I'm ok. Your mom fixed me up." said Jake

"She's a good fixer." said Stella sleepily.

Tess noticed that it was after 10 and Stella should have been in bed hours ago. She picked her up off Jake's chest, then leaned over to give Jake a hand up. Tess carried Stella to the stateroom, Jake following in their wake. Tess set Stella on the bed and went back to Phil's room to grab a pair of pajamas. When she got back Jake and Stella were curled up in Jake's bunk together. Tess, quickly changed Stella's outfit and re-tucked her in next to Jake. She gave both Stella and Jake goodnight kisses, then turned off the light and closed the door.

Returning to the galley she saw Josh sitting pensively at the table. She grabbed a plate of cookies from the counter and dropped them in front of him.

"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Tess.

Josh grabbed a cookie and looked hard at Tess. Then after a moment of hesitation he began to speak.

"I'm just a little worried about us, me, Jake and my dad. We've all grown kind of attached to you and Stella." Josh paused "See, we've had other people in our lives and they made them complicated and hard. I just don't want to go through that again."

"Josh, I've already made your lives incredibly complicated. I'm trying to hide from my dead husband's family by hiding on this boat." said Tess sadly. "I know you are worried about me being here and how close your dad and I have become. But know that I only have your family's best interests at heart. I care deeply for all of you."

"I know you do, you showed me tonight when you took care of Jake." said Josh.

Tess took the empty plate back to the sink and washed it. She hoped that she wouldn't hurt Phil and his family. Her future was uncertain at this point, she was really just living day by day. Walking back into the galley she gave Josh a quick peck on the cheek and told him goodnight before heading to Phil's room to crawl into bed.

* * *

Phil stumbled slightly into his room, trying to be as quiet as possible so he wouldn't wake Tess. He was completely unsuccessful since Tess sat up in bed trying to see him in the darkness.

"Hi." said Tess, her voice still heavy with sleep.

"Hey." said Phil, quickly shucking his clothes onto the floor and climbing into the bed.

"You are freezing." said Tess and Phil's icy hands roamed her body.

"I'm sure you'll be able to warm me right up." said Phil, dipping his head to kiss her neck.

Their lovemaking was fast and heated, and soon they were laying on top of the blankets trying to catch their breaths.

"How's Jake?" asked Phil.

"He's fine, I put some ice on his lip and cleaned up his nose, nothings broken and I'm sure the lip will heal in a few days. What happened?" said Tess.

"I suppose you could say he was defending Stella's honor." said Phil already starting to redress. "Some guy in the bar was asking where the little bartender was and making some comment about not being able to wait until she grew up a little more. Anyway Jake thought it was uncalled for and popped the guy, then they started really getting into it."

"I'll have to thank him in the morning." said Tess.

"Get dressed and come up to the wheelhouse, we are leaving in less than an hour." said Phil. Tess nodded and started grabbing some clothes to wear.

* * *

On deck there was a flurry of activity, pots were being doubled checked, deck lines were being thrown aboard and the boat was getting ready to leave. Tess sat quietly in the wheelhouse listening to Phil yell instructions over the hailer to the men on deck. When the boat actually pulled away from the dock Tess felt a moment of horrible apprehension. She looked back at the dock and wondered if she'd even see it again. As Phil drove the boat out into open ocean she saw the lights of the Northwestern ahead of them, she could hear Phil and Sig talking to each other on the radio. The discussed the weather and vaguely mentioned where on the grounds they were heading.

Tess sat on the bench and just watched the boat move through the water. Never in her life had she felt so small and insignificant than now as she looked out at the never ending ocean surrounding the boat. She sat silently watching the ocean until the pricks of dawn began to light the sky. Looking over at Phil she noticed that he was drinking a red bull and smoking a cigarette, he looked happy, like a kid returning to his favorite vacation spot. He looked younger, with almost an excited sense of wonderment on his face. Tess smiled to herself, then stood up to stretch.

Phil turned to look at Tess as she stretched. She'd stayed up all night with him and hadn't said a word. He'd looked at her all night wondering if she'd fallen asleep, but every time he glanced her eyes were open peering out the windows. He was impressed she hadn't gotten sick, most greenhorns puked with in an hour of leaving port. According to Sig even Edgar threw up on the first trip every single season. He hoped that Stella would be spared sea sickness too. He watched as Tess walked up the window and hopped into the portside chair. She carefully cracked the window and took an experimental sniff, the air was freezing but the smell was invigorating. She turned back to Phil and gave him a dazzling smile.

"We should be on the grounds in a few hours." explained Phil. "Come over here and I'll show you where we are."

Tess walked over to his chair, he placed her on his lap and showed her the map on the computer screen. She was surprised by the technical gadgetry that surrounded the chair. Gone were the days of paper charts and compasses, now it was all GPS and computers. Noting their location on the computer map he showed her where he wanted to fish and how many pots he would drop in each place. He thought it would take about 2 days for the crews to get all the pots into the water, and by the time the last one was in the water it would be time to check on the first string. It sounded like a ridiculous amount of work to cram into 48 hours, but Tess didn't share her sentiments with Phil. Instead she excused herself to go make some breakfast, the crew was certainly going to need their strength.

* * *

In the kitchen Tess gathered what she needed to make a lumberjack breakfast. She started cooking the bacon and sausages, reserving some of the fat to make gravy. She rolled out some biscuits, and fried up some country potatoes. Next she made some french toast and scrambled a dozen eggs. Just as she'd finished the eggs Murray appeared. "Would you like me to rouse the troops for breakfast?"

"Yes, everything is ready." said Tess. She hurriedly put everything on the table, she was just bringing out the drinks when everyone arrived.

"Wow what a spread" said Freddie sitting down and piling his plate.

"It smells so good, I'm starving" said Josh following Freddie's lead.

"Thanks, there is plenty so feel free to eat as much as you like." said Tess.

"Just in case we eat it all, you might want to make Phil a plate." suggested Murray.

"Already done" said Tess pointing to the microwave.

Jake and Stella hadn't appeared yet so Tess excused herself to check on them. She met them in the hallway, Stella carefully holding Jake's hand both looking a little green around the gills.

"Are you guys ok?" asked Tess.

"Mommy, Jake and I were sicking out." said Stella. Jake merely nodded his head.

"Maybe eating something will make you two feel better." said Tess leading them into the kitchen. She quickly made some dry toast and spooned a small scoop of eggs onto two plates. Placing them in front of Jake and Stella she watched as they both tentatively began to eat. Once their small meal was finished they both looked a little better.

"Tess, heat up Phil's food I'm going to relieve him so he can eat" announced Murray. Tess zapped Phi's breakfast in the microwave and set it down on the table. She filled up a mug of coffee and had just set it down when Phil arrived.

"Breakfast smells great, thanks for cooking" said Phil. Digging into his breakfast he looked around at everyone at the table. "We are just a few hours out, so you probably want to start prepping more bait."

"Roger" said Freddie and Josh.

"Can I help today Josh?" asked Stella.

"Um, I don't know, I guess it depends on the weather and if your mom says it's ok." replied Josh.

"The weather is good." said Phil before eating another bite of egg.

"Stella you can go, but I'm going with you." said Tess. "Come on Stella lets go get dressed."

Tess and Stella disappeared from the kitchen to change clothes.

"Don't forget her gloves this time" said Phil, pointedly looking between Jake and Josh.

They both nodded before leaving the table. Phil finished up his breakfast and rinsed his dishes in the sink. He decided to make sure that Stella and Tess were dressed appropriately for bait duty and walked towards his room.

* * *

Tess and Stella were dressed in long underwear, sweats, long sleeve shirts and sweatshirts. Stella was complaining that she was too hot and struggling to get her socks on her feet. Phil walked in just in time to hear the little girls protests.

"Stella, I've been doing this for a long time and I know that it's cold out there. The more clothes you wear the warmer you'll stay. Don't forget to put your gloves on." said Phil.

Stella nodded with a huff then asked to go see Jake and Josh, once she received approval she was out the door. "Now, lets make sure you are appropriately dressed" said Phil spinning Tess around to inspect her from every angle. "You look perfect."

"Thanks, is there anything I should know before going outside." asked Tess nervously.

"Watch out for the waves, stay near Jake or Josh at all times and when someone says move, move." said Phil. "I'll be watching out for you from upstairs."

Tess made her way to the ready room, her raingear and boots in hand. Jake, Josh and Stella were already suited up. Josh grabbed the gear in Tess' hand and helped her into the pants and jacket.

"Um I think they are a little big on you" remarked Jake. "Let me fix that." He grabbed a roll of duct tape and taped her sleeves above her wrists and her pants so they hung just over the tops of her feet.

"Thanks" said Tess slipping into her boots.

Josh opened the door and taking Tess by the hand led her through the maze of pots on deck. Stella and Jake were following them close behind. Once they reached the bait station Tess put on her gloves, and listened to the quick lesson from Josh. Soon she and Stella were stuffing bait bags in a quick rhythm, they handed them to Feddie who threaded them with cod. They worked for a few hours before they heard Phil's voice over the hailer.

"Ok, send the girls in. We are about a mile off where I want to start setting."

Tess and Stella walked back inside and got out of their raingear. They walked up to the wheelhouse and watched the crew drop the first string of pots of the season. The crew worked like a well oiled machine, never really missing a beat in the ballet that was deck work. "They only have 5 pots left and they are going to be hungry." said Phil. Taking the hint Tess headed downstairs. Stella stayed behind sitting in the portside chair and continued watching the deck.

Tess whipped up a quick chili and popped some quick cooking cornbread into the oven. She tripled the amount of chili, but was still worried it wasn't going to be enough. She chopped some green onions, grated some cheese and put out the sour cream. Then she grabbed a bag of corn chips out of the pantry and set them on the table. She pulled the cornbread out of the oven and deftly cut it into large squares before piling them on a platter. Lunch was served and on the table by the time the guys came off deck.

Lunch was devoured in minutes flat, then the guys went to catch a few minutes of rest before Phil called them for the next string.

It was getting late and Tess gave Stella a quick shower before changing her into her pajamas. Stella crawled into Jake's bed with her Ariel doll and princess blanket, after all the hard work she fell asleep in just a few minutes. Tess returned to the wheelhouse to keep vigil over the men on deck and Phil. She refilled his coffee and brought him red bull, even sat in his seat while he went to the bathroom. The second string was finished sometime around 3 am and the guys came in and had some sandwiches and cereal before going to sleep. Murray took over on wheel watch as Phil and Tess retired to his room to rest. They were too tired to do anything more than hold each other. Tess sighed, this day had been good, she only hoped that she could say the same for tomorrow.


	18. Part 18

**Thanks for the reviews. Please remember that this story is rated M for a reason.

A few hours later Tess felt Phil get up, she raised her head and watched him get dressed. Feeling her eyes on him he turned around.

"Tess, you don't have to get up." said Phil quietly. Tess nodded and slowly closed her eyes. Phil watched her for a few more seconds before he finished dressing and headed up to the wheelhouse. He relieved Murray and lit his first cigarette of the day. He looked at the pack and realized that it wasn't even empty yet, he did some math and realized that he'd cut his smoking in half this trip. Well I suppose that's what happens when stress relief is just a few steps away, he thought to himself. They were almost to the next spot Phil wanted to drop pots. He announced it was time for the crew to get up over the hailer.

Jake stirred as he heard his dad's voice announce that it was time to get up. Jake rolled over and gave Stella a quick once over, she was still fast asleep. He got out of the bunk and tucked her in snuggly, then looked around and quickly dropped a kiss on her forehead. As he stood up he noticed that Josh had seen him. He sighed and walked out into the galley. Josh pulled him aside before he got very far.

"Hey, I think it's awesome that you're taking care of her." said Josh. Jake just nodded then continued his way to the kitchen a small smile on his face.

Tess was up and had made some bacon and egg sandwiches. She set the platter in the middle of the table, placing one on a plate for Phil.

"How did Stella sleep?" she asked Jake.

"Fine, she's still sleeping." replied Jake before taking another bite. Tess nodded then grabbed the plate and cup of coffee for Phil, then she headed up to the wheelhouse.

Phil heard the patter of feet on the stairs and turned to see Tess bringing up a plate of food and coffee. He smiled and gratefully accepted the plate and cup.

"I thought you'd like to eat up here." said Tess.

"Thanks, this is really good." said Phil with his mouth full.

"I'm glad you like it, the crew is all up and eating downstairs." said Tess.

"Great, we are about half an hour from where I want to set the rest of the gear." explained Phil. "It's going to be a long day for them."

"I'll try to think of something hearty and quick for lunch." said Tess, sitting down on the bench seat.

"Is Stella still sleeping?" asked Phil.

"Yes." said Tess.

"Well, when she gets up send her up, I told her I'd let her drive the boat today." said Phil with a smile.

Tess just cocked an eyebrow at him and smiled.

As Phil called the crew on deck Tess watched with keen interest as they baited and dropped the pots. After a few hours, she went downstairs to check on Stella. She returned an hour later with Stella in tow and some grapes for Phil.

"What is that?" said Phil pointing to the bowl.

"Grapes, surely you've seen them before." said Tess.

"Never on this boat." remarked Phil.

Tess just shrugged and popped one into her mouth. Stella took one too and ate it with gusto. Phil sighed and popped one into his mouth.

"Ready to drive Stella?" asked Phil.

"Yep." said Stella, scrambling into Phil's lap. Phil patiently explained everything to her then let her announce over the hailer that she was driving.

"Hi down there. I wanted to tell you that I'm in charge." said Stella, her sweet voice blasting onto the deck. Every eye turned up to the wheelhouse and Josh waved to her.

"Get back to work, this isn't a tea party" she bellowed. Phil had told her to yell at them, but he'd never expected to hear the words tea party come out of her mouth. Everyone in the boat was laughing and Phil was sure that he would be telling this story for the rest of his life.

Tess went downstairs leaving Phil with Stella in his lap driving the boat and pushing the buzzer. Tess decided to make something warm for lunch. She started chopping vegetables and throwing them into a pot, the end result was a delicious chicken soup. In addition to the soup she fried up some bacon for club sandwiches. The whole process took a couple of hours and by the time she was finished the crew was ready to come in while Phil ran up to the next location. Lunch was on the table and the crew ate ravenously, Stella came down to "check on her crew" and gave them a pep talk.

"You guys are really doing a good job out there. Remember to stay safe."

All the guys smiled. Jake set Stella on his lap as she finished her lunch, even giving Jake the second half of her sandwich. The guys had a bit of time after eating but instead of getting some rest, they helped Stella put together a puzzle.

"Alright guys we're almost there" announced Phil over the hailer. The guys dragged themselves to the ready room, got their gear on and headed back outside. Stella watched them leave then went into her room, she returned a few minutes later struggling into a sweatshirt.

"Are you cold sweetie?" asked Tess.

"No, I want to go outside to help." explained Stella, already heading for the ready room.

"I don't know sweetie, they are working out there and it's dangerous." said Tess.

"I'll ask captain Phil" said Stella as she headed up the stairs.

Tess cleared the dishes from the table and started washing them. Stella appeared in the kitchen looking rather sullen.

"He said not today." said Stella sadly.

"Well he's the captain and he knows best." said Tess. "Why don't you help me do the dishes and then we can roll out the meatballs for dinner."

"Ok." said Stella

The girls worked together to make a huge batch of meatballs, Tess fried them and dropped them into a huge pot of sauce. She attached the pot to the stove and set the stove to low. The meatballs and sauce would cook until the guys were done, the longer the better. Tess would cook the spaghetti when they were ready to come in. After the kitchen was clean and everything was secured, Tess started a movie for Stella and headed up to watch the crew.

Phil turned his head to see who was walking up the stairs, when he saw that it was Tess he breathed a small sigh of relief. Stella had driven him crazy asking to go out on deck, he'd almost given into her until he saw a huge wave crash over the rail.

"I have some soup and a sandwich for you downstairs, do you want me to bring it up?" asked Tess

"Not right now, maybe on the jog to the next string. The weather is getting a little worse and I want to keep an eye on everyone." explained Phil. Tess nodded and sat down on the bench seat. She watched the waves build and the crew struggle to do their job in the deteriorating conditions. She watched as the waves continually pounded over the railing turning the deck into a lake.

"Damn it, we are in the ditch." grumbled Phil. "Guys, watch yourselves it's going to get bad." said Phil over the hailer.

The waves continued to build as the number of pots on deck shrank. Tess watched until it was time to feed Stella dinner. She grabbed the plates with the reminisce of Phil's lunch on them and headed downstairs.

Tess and Stella ate dinner together then spent the rest of the evening reading books. After Stella was showered and changed she went upstairs to say goodnight to Phil. It was nearly 8 and the crew had 10 pots to go. Phil pulled Stella into his lap and let her say good night to the crew over the hailer. He gave her a tender kiss on the cheek and sent her back downstairs. Tess tucked her in and she was asleep in just a few minutes. Tess returned to the wheelhouse and watched the crew drop the last few pots. When the last one was heading towards the launcher she went downstairs to boil the pasta.

The crew came in for dinner, the table was filled with spaghetti and meatballs, salad, and garlic bread. She poured the crew glasses of their beverage of choice and passed around the bottle of ibuprofen. The crew was exhausted and when everyone had eaten their fill Tess set a plate of chocolate chip cookies on the table. She received a round of tired smiles and some murmured thank yous. Josh finished first and went upstairs to take over so he dad could come down and eat.

Phil walked into the galley just as Freddie and Jake were heading out. "Great work today you guys." He received a few weak smiles and a wave as they guys went to get some well deserved rest.

"It smells great in here Tess" said Phil, serving himself a plate.

"Thanks" said Tess.

Phil ate slowly, savoring each bite, when his stomach was full to bursting he pushed back his plate. Tess got up and retrieved the last 2 cookies and poured him a glass of cold milk.

"What am I 5 years old?" said Phil looking at the plate and milk.

"If you don't want it, I'll go up and give it to Josh." said Tess pulling the plate back.

"No, I want it." said Phil grasping onto the plate and tugging it firmly. Tess released her hold on the plate reluctantly.

"Just then you sounded like you were going to throw a tantrum" said Tess teasingly.

"Oh you are going to pay for that later." said Phil with a gleam in his eye.

Phil finished the cookies and debated whether he had time for a quick rest. As if magically summoned Freddie appeared for wheel watch. Josh emerged from the wheelhouse moments later, his eyes already heavy with sleep. Phil took Tess by the hand and led her back to his room, it was payback time.

* * *

"Alright Tess, it's time for your punishment." said Phil in his best angry voice. Tess dropped to her knees, lowered her eyes and clasped her hands in front of her, imitating her best submissive pose. Phil could feel himself start to harden.

"You are overdressed Tess." said Phil. Tess stood and removed her clothes, folding them neatly and placing them on top of the pile of dirty clothes. She resumed her position on the floor then said something that almost made Phil cum in his pants.

"I'm here to serve you." she said in a quiet but seductive voice.

Phil was pretty sure he'd never heard such a delightful statement before in his life. He smiled down at her and started removing his clothes. Then he had a better idea.

"Undress me" he said in a voice that had just dropped an octave. Tess walked over to where Phil was standing and quickly pulled his shirt over his head.

"Do I have permission to touch you?" Tess asked coyly. Phil wasn't able to speak he merely nodded. Tess ran her fingers over his chest, down his stomach to his pants. She slid them over his hips and down his legs, he stepped out of them and glanced down at Tess. She quickly divested him of his underwear and his socks leaving him naked. She gingerly ran her hands up his legs and back to his stomach completely avoiding where he wanted her to touch him most.

"What do you request of me now" said Tess, resuming her position on her knees.

"I believe that I owe you some punishment." said Phil, as he sat down on his bed. "I think you need a spanking." Tess stood and laid herself across Phil's lap, her feet and arms dangling, and her breasts squished up against his thigh. She could already feel his hard cock pressing against her side. Phil rubbed his hands over her bottom feeling the smooth cool skin. Then after thinking he lulled her into a false sense of security he spanked her. The sound of his hand hitting her flesh seemed to echo in the small stateroom.

"One" said Tess. Phil stopped, he was surprised to hear her start to count. He spanked her again, this time slightly harder on the other cheek. Tess continued to count as Phil continued to spank and by the time number 10 had been reached Phil's hand was hurting and Tess' bottom was red and warm to the touch.

Phil allowed her to stand up, when she did he saw that tears were running down her face.

"Are you ok?" asked Phil suddenly concerned.

"Yes, it's kind of freeing, a chance to let out all pent up emotion." explained Tess as she wiped her eyes.

"Are you sure?" asked Phil. Instead of answering him Tess just climbed into her lap and lowered herself down on top of him. She rode him slowly rotating her hips on each stroke. Phil reached his hands around to hold her and she flinched.

"My bottom still hurts" she said. Phil held her waist and helped to lift her up and down. As they got closer to completion she started going faster, using Phil as a lever allowing her to go faster and slam herself down harder. Tess buried her head in Phil's shoulder as she came. Phil followed almost immediately after her forgetting what she said and grabbing her sore bottom. Tess just gritted her teeth against the pain.

"That was amazing" said Phil breathlessly.

"Yes, it was" answered Tess sleepily. She climbed off of Phil and settled herself face down on the bed. Phil turned on the overhead light so he could inspect his handy work. Her bottom was practically glowing red, and it was really hot to the touch. Phil reached into her bag and pulled out some lotion, he liberally spread it over her bottom hoping it would start to soothe her abused skin. He slid in next to her and closed his eyes. While everyone but Freddie was sleeping the seas were starting to build.


	19. Part 19

Freddie came in to get Phil a few hours later, the seas were getting rough and he thought Phil would want to be in the chair. Phil got up and settled himself in the wheelhouse, the seas were getting nasty. Dawn was breaking and he could see the waves stacking up. They were still a few hours from the next string and he hoped the waves would get a little smaller by the time they reached the string.

The satellite phone rang and Phil picked it up without taking his eyes off the waves. It was Margie, she was calling to give Tess an update. Phil asked her to hold on, then called for Tess to come up the wheelhouse. Tess appeared minutes later sloppily dressed and still half asleep. Phil handed her the phone.

"Hello?" said Tess sleepily

"Tess honey, it's Margie. I have some news for you."

"Ok" said Tess waking to full alertness.

"Eric's family been here and gone, they tore the house apart looking for clues to where you've gone. I'm afraid they broke all your dishes and destroyed almost everything you left in the house. I was able to move the stuff you showed me, but every thing else is a total loss. They wrote a check to Frank for the damage to the house like the money was nothing. Ethan was with them, he's out on bail. Your mother in law seems to think without your testimony he will get off. I told them that you left the truck at the airport and that I went to pick it up when it seemed that you weren't coming back. I think they've sent out the trackers to find you. Be careful and stay safe out there. But just know they're looking for you." Margie finished her update and hung up. Tess just stood behind Phil's chair tears silently streaming down her face.

"Hey sweetie, it'll be ok." said Phil pulling her into his arms. Tess nodded although she didn't really believe him. Phil held her until he felt her pull away. She moved to the bench seat and sat down and just stared out the windows.

* * *

Stella woke up and debated whether she could wake up Jake. He was sleeping soundly and he still looked tired. She needed to use the bathroom but his arm was around her and she worried that moving it would wake him up. She laid quietly for a few more minutes but her need to use the bathroom became pressing and she decided to wiggle out from under his arm. When she was finally free she hurried out the door and into the bathroom. She'd just finished washing her hands when the boat was hit by a huge wave.

Neither Phil nor Tess had seen the wave coming, it hit the boat broadside. The boat tilted to a 45 degree angle then righted itself. Everyone was thrown out of their bunks. Tess picked herself off the floor and looked at Phil who was miraculously still in the chair.

"Get Murray the engine's are out." yelled Phil as he picked up the hailer. "Everyone up, it was a rogue wave." Tess hurried down stairs and found Murray in the hallway already pulling on a sweatshirt. She relayed Phil's message and he immediately moved towards the engine room.

"Send one of the guys down in case I need help." said Murray. Tess nodded and headed towards the other bunks. She found Freddie first and sent him out to Murray in the engine room.

Josh was thrown from his top bunk onto the floor, luckily his fall was broken by a huge pile of clothes. Jake was also on the floor slightly dazed. It only took a moment for the boys to realize that someone was missing.

"Stella? Where are you Stella?" called Jake. He moved back to the bunk and started to pick up the blankets and search underneath them. Josh was already looking around the room, they both looked at each other sharing the realization that she wasn't in the room. Both boys burst out of the door and headed into the galley.

Tess saw Jake and Josh running towards her, matching looks of panic on their faces. She didn't even need them to tell her what was wrong, she knew instinctively it was Stella.

"What happened to her" asked Tess.

"We don't know, she wasn't in the room." said Jake looking around the kitchen.

"I'll check the bathroom." said Josh already sprinting back the other way. He pressed open the door and looked around, at first he saw nothing, then he heard soft crying coming from the shower stall. Walking into the room he peered into the showers stall, there in a crumpled heap was Stella. He gingerly picked her up, she was limp like a rag doll. As he turned to carry her out he saw Tess and Jake in the doorway. They both moved out of the way and Josh carried her to the galley. He gingerly lay her on the table. Jake got a towel from the bathroom and laid it under her head. Tess grabbed a kitchen towel and wet it, then carefully washed the blood from Stella's face trying to find the source of the blood. Stella's eyes were closed and tears were slowly leaking out of the corners.

"Stella can you open your eyes and tell me what hurts?" asked Tess gently. Stella's eyes fluttered open but she didn't say anything. Josh returned with the first aid kit, opening it up he put on a pair of latex gloves. He quickly inspected Stella's head, most of the blood had been wiped away but no cut was revealed. Next he moved his hand to her lip, she refused to open her mouth.

"Stella I need to make sure you mouth is ok, can you let me open it?" asked Josh. After a moment of hesitation he felt her mouth give way. As he opened it blood came pouring out, he grabbed the towel and turned Stella onto her side allowing the blood to drain into the towel. Along with the blood came 2 small teeth, her two front teeth had been knocked out. Josh asked Jake to get an ice pack and wrap it in a towel. Josh placed the ice pack into Stella's mouth, she flinched and tried to move away. Tess stroked her forehead while Jake held her hand. Once Josh could get Stella to hold the ice pack in her mouth he checked the rest of her body for injuries. She had some bruises on her torso, but other than that she had escaped serious injury.

"Ok Tess, you're next." announced Josh. Tess just looked at him quizzically. "I'm fine." she said. Josh merely picked up a piece of gauze and placed it up against her hairline, when he showed moved the gauze back to show her it was bright red. Tess sat down obediently on the bench seat and let Josh inspect her cut.

"It's deep, you probably need stitches." said Josh. The skin around the cut was red and swollen. Tess accepted the ice pack from Jake and held it up to her head.

"Are you going to do the stitches here?" asked Jake.

"She needs them, so I guess so." said Josh. Tess looked at Josh with a look of horror on her face. She was about to have a cut stitched up on a crab boat that was in the middle of pitching and rolling.

"How many times have you done this?" she asked hesitantly.

"Never, but it didn't seem that hard when the coast guard explained it." said Josh with a smile. That was all it took, Tess' eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fainted straight back onto the bench seat.

"Oh shit." said Josh, leaning forward to feel her pulse. It was still strong. "Let's get her on the table, I can do the stitches while she's out."

"Don't you think you should have her permission to do that?" asked Jake.

"No." said Josh already stringing the needle. Jake shrugged and placed Stella on the bench seat and picked up Tess and laid her on the table. "Go up and ask dad to keep the boat steady." Jake nodded and disappeared up the stairs to the wheelhouse.

Phil was relieved the engines were back online and he was jogging towards the next string. According to Murray and Freddie nothing had been damaged by the rogue wave. He hadn't heard about any other injuries so he assumed everyone was fine. When Jake appeared in his wheelhouse he saw the look of concern on his face and his stomach dropped.

"What is it?" he asked afraid to know the answer.

"Josh wants to know if you can hold the boat steady, he's going to give Tess a few stitches." said Jake.

"Why does she need stitches?" asked Phil.

"She has a pretty deep cut in her head, Josh thinks it needs stitches." explained Jake.

"Is Stella ok?" asked Phil.

"She'll be fine, she was in the bathroom when the wave hit and got tossed around, she lost 2 teeth and has some bruises." said Jake sadly. Phil dropped his head into his hands, although he knew the risks of bringing Tess and Stella out with them, he'd never really thought that they would actually get hurt.

"I'll hold it steady. Tell Josh to do his best." said Phil. Jake nodded and headed back to the galley.

When he reappeared in the galley Murray and Freddie were at the table with Josh. Freddie had Stella in his arms, she was still crying. Tess was on the table and Josh had just made the first stitch, Murray was holding Tess' hair out his way. Jake said nothing, just moved to sit down and took Tess' hand. She immediately grasped it in a death grip and Jake realized that she was probably awake and feeling the needle slipping in and out of her skin. Josh placed 7 stitches in her head, then rubbed it with some medicine and taped some gauze over the cut.

"Ok Tess you are all done, you can open your eyes." said Josh, pulling her to a sitting position. Tess was woozy, her head hurt and she felt sick to her stomach. "Just relax and breath slowly it's all sewn up and you probably won't even have a scar." Tess tried very hard not to vomit she breathed slowly and kept her eyes closed. It took her a few minutes before she started to feel better, when she opened her eyes instead of looking into Josh's eyes, she saw that Phil was standing in front of her.

"Shouldn't you be driving the boat?" asked Tess.

"Murray took over so I could check on you. How are you feeling?" said Phil concern lacing his voice.

"I think I'm going to be sick." said Tess.

"Have a sip of water." said Phil handing her a glass. Tess sipped the water and leaned her head on Phil's shoulder. "You can't sleep yet, just in case you have a concussion."

"I understand" said Tess.

"Why don't we go up to the wheelhouse. You like looking out the windows, it will probably make you feel better." said Phil, helping her to her feet. Tess walked shakily up to the wheelhouse and all but collapsed on the bench seat. Stella was already up there sitting on Jake's lap in the portside chair. Phil took the chair back from Murray.

"Since Tess and Stella seem to be on the mend. How about pulling some pots today so we can get this boat loaded." said Phil. Jake stood up and motioned for Tess to sit in the chair. Tess took the seat and Jake placed Stella in her lap. Stella snuggled down and got comfy. The rest of the crew was on the deck after eating a quick breakfast and suiting up. Tess watched with unseeing eyes as the crew hauled pot after pot. Phil glanced at her and every so often reminded her not to fall asleep. After a few hours he deemed her well enough to go downstairs.

Tess and Stella ate a quick meal and both fell asleep in Phil's bed. The guys worked through the night and most of the next morning. By the time they were done on deck both Stella and Tess felt better. Tess made steak and eggs for the crew and they devoured the meal. Once everyone was tucked in and sleeping, Stella and Tess watched a movie together then went through a workbook on spelling. They ate a small dinner and Stella showered, changed into her pajamas and crawled into bed with Jake. Tess went upstairs and sat with Phil for the rest of the night.


	20. Part 20

**Thanks as always for the reviews and encouragement. I'd also like to remind you that this story contains adult situations and graphic descriptions on sex.

As dawn broke Tess was treated to a beautiful bearing sea sunrise. The sun moved over the horizon almost blinding her. She went downstairs and made herself a cup of coffee, as she sat down at the table she thought about what she was going to do after this trip. The tanks were half full and they'd been at sea almost a week. According to Josh, they always tried to unload the crab before the oldest in the tank were 14 days old. That meant she and Stella really only had another week at sea. Deciding that brooding wasn't really giving her a solution she decided to make some muffins. She made a double batch of blueberry and a double batch of chocolate chip muffins. By the time she'd gotten the last batch in the oven the whole ship smelled like a bakery. She grabbed one of the hot blueberry muffins and a cup of coffee and delivered it to Phil in the wheelhouse.

"I was wondering what smelled so good." he said as she handed him the plate.

"I made enough to feed an army or the crew of this boat." said Tess playfully.

"Can I have another one and a refill on the coffee?" asked Phil

"Sure" said Tess picking up the plate and heading back to the galley.

When she arrived in the galley Murray was helping himself to a muffin. Tess smiled and picked up a chocolate muffin and dropped it on the plate, next she refilled Phil's cup with coffee.

"You are really spoiling us. I wouldn't be surprised if Phil chained you to the kitchen when we head into port just to make sure you don't get off the boat." said Murray.

"Thank you" said Tess. She ran the muffin and coffee up to Phil then returned to the galley. Murray was reading a new book, The Count of Monte Cristo.

"You finished your book." said Tess.

"Yes, I did. What about you?" asked Murray. Tess reached behind the counter and pulled out a vampire novel.

"I just started the second book in the series yesterday. Sometimes reading on the boat makes me a little nauseous. " confessed Tess.

"That's normal, you'll get use to it." said Murray kindly. "Did Stella get a visit from the tooth fairy?"

"Not yet, she doesn't even know who the tooth fairy is. Plus I don't know what I can give her, I didn't exactly plan for tooth loss on this trip." said Tess.

"Well I'm sure we can think of something. I'll ask Freddie, he always has good ideas." said Murray. Tess smiled gratefully and sat down to eat her muffin.

Less than an hour later the galley was full. Jake and Josh were carefully breaking apart a muffin for Stella so she didn't have to bite into one. Freddie and Murray were quietly commiserating about the Tooth Fairy. Tess just stood in the kitchen and watched the crew and Stella, she suddenly felt a wave of sadness, they would leave this in a week. Turning around she inspected the fridge to see what she'd make for the next meal. Phil announced that they were coming up to the next string and that the seas were calm if the littlest deck hand wanted to join in the fun. Stella didn't need to be told twice, she was in her raingear before anyone else.

* * *

Jake kept Stella at his side at all times. He switched jobs with Josh so he could keep her near the bait station. She really wanted to help sort the crab but Jake was nervous about her being too close to the railing. She did help him push the totes to the crab holds and fill the bait sacks.

"Can I hang the bait in one pot, please?" asked Stella.

"Alright, the next one we will go in together." said Jake. The next pot came over the rail and the crew quickly sorted through the crab. Once the pot was ready to bait Stella and Jake hopped into the pot and hung the bait. Stella was the perfect size for hopping in and out of the pots, it was too bad that she struggled with the weight of the hanging bait.

"Good job Stella. We can do the next one together too." said Jake. They kept it up for the next few hours until Stella looked like she was going to fall asleep while standing at the bait table. Jake quickly walked her inside and changed her out of her raingear. He passed her off to Tess who took her in for a shower and fed her a little bit of lunch. Although she and the guys had eaten a few snacks and sandwiches on deck Stella ate like she was starving. After lunch Stella went up to watch the crew from the wheelhouse.

Tess decided to make mexican food for dinner. The menu included enchiladas, beans, rice, and tacos. It took her a while to get it all prepped and ready, but when it was finally done it was a feast fit for a king. She walked up to get Stella for dinner and realized that she was asleep on the bench seat.

"How long has she been asleep?" asked Tess.

"Only for the last few pots." said Phil. "She looks adorable though, she actually fell asleep in my lap. I just set her down a second before you walked up." Tess smiled down at Stella then walked over and gave Phil a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks for being so kind to her."

"She's a great little girl." said Phil.

"I think so." said Tess running her fingers through Stella's hair.

"I think you are a great girl too." said Phil turning to look at Tess.

"I think you are an amazing man." said Tess walking over to Phil. He pulled her into his lap and nuzzled her neck. As the crew called out the crab counts Tess leaned forward to write them down on Phil's notepad. Phil attempted to teach her how the controls worked, but she kept distracting him by placing little kisses along his jaw line.

"You are never going to learn if you don't pay attention." he admonished.

"I find kissing you much more fun then learning to drive the boat." said Tess. The romantic moment was interrupted by the sound of Stella stirring. Giving Phil one last kiss, Tess got up from his lap and sat down next to Stella.

"Hi honey, how was your rest?"

"It was good mommy, captain Phil let me steer the boat again." said Stella "I'm really hungry."

"Dinner's ready so lets go get you something to eat." said Tess pulling Stella to her feet.

"Thank you captain Phil" said Stella as she followed her mother.

"You're welcome Stella." said Phil.

Down in the kitchen Stella ate an enchilada and two tacos with beans and rice. She also drank two glasses of milk and had a bowl of ice cream for dessert. Tess had never seen her eat so much and was mildly concerned that Stella was going to throw up. After dinner Stella wanted to read up in the wheelhouse, so after collecting a selection of books they both headed back up, Phil was delighted to see them. Tess and Stella took turns reading books until Stella started to get sleepy. Tess pulled out a very worn copy of the Velveteen Rabbit and started to read it in a very soft melodious voice. Stella was asleep before the book was finished. Tess scooped her up and carried her down the stairs to her room. She'd just got Stella settled in the bunk and was singing her a lullaby when Josh walked in to change his shirt. He changed quickly, but didn't leave until the song was over. Seeing Tess sing to Stella reminded him of the lullabies his mom use to sing to his sisters.

* * *

The guys worked through the night, although they did come in to grab a quick dinner between strings. Tess laid down to sleep after the dishes were finished. She slept fitfully, dreaming of prisons with her in laws as the jailers. The crew finally made it inside after sunrise. Tess made oatmeal, bacon and eggs for them. Stella was still asleep when Jake crawled into his bed. He snuggled up with her and fell asleep instantly. Tess went up to check on Phil and bring him something to eat. She watched the wheel while he used the bathroom and got another cup of coffee. When Phil got back he just sat on the bench seat and watched Tess sit in the chair. Her feet were curled under her and she was careful not to touch anything.

"You won't break it if you put your feet down." said Phil.

"You never know. Better safe than sorry." said Tess, staying in the same position.

"You'd be more comfortable if you'd let me show you how everything worked instead of trying to seduce me." said Phil

"Very true, unfortunately I can't go back in time." said Tess.

"You could learn today if you want to?" suggested Phil.

"I don't know if I can sit in your lap and pay attention to anything, you are a big distraction to me." said Tess coyly.

"Hmm, well I suppose being distracted wouldn't be too bad either." said Phil advancing towards her.

"Why don't I give you a treat for being such a good captain." said Tess. She stood up and patted the seat. Phil quickly sat down and Tess kneeled in front of him. Her hands wormed their way into his pants and quickly extracted his cock. It was starting to harden just from being in her hand. Tess gingerly stretched her lips around it and took him into her mouth. She's proceeded to give him a fantastic blow job, he was almost there when footsteps were heard on the stairs. Instead of pulling her off him, he simply scooted forward so he was sitting on the edge of his seat. Tess was pushed under the console balancing on the little board Phil put his feet on. "Hey pops, have you seen Tess? Jake wants to make the famous Jake Steaks for dinner tonight." said Josh.

"I've seen her, I'll let her know." said Phil his voice fluctuating strangely.

"Are you ok? You sound weird." said Josh taking a few steps closer.

"I'm fine, just a little on edge." said Phil distractedly.

"Well if you want I can take my wheel watch now and you can get some rest." said Josh who was now standing directly behind Phil's chair.

"Sure, why don't you go down and get some coffee or something and then come up and relieve me." said Phil trying very hard not to let his eyes roll back in his head.

"Sounds good." said Josh turning to walk down the stairs. Tess turned up the technique and Phil came with a grunt before Josh was all the way down the stairs.

"What was that? Are you sure you're ok?" asked Josh from the stairway.

"I'm much better now, thank you." said Phil relief flooding his voice. He looked down at Tess who'd just tucked him back into his pants and was pushing him back so she could stand up. She'd just sat down on the bench seat when Josh reappeared.

"Where did you come from?" asked Josh staring at Tess.

"She's been around." said Phil getting out of his chair. "I'm going to lay down for a while, thanks for taking over Josh." With that Tess smiled and walked past Josh to follow Phil down the stairs.

Josh took his seat in the big chair and looked around. Tess must have been hiding up here because he knew she hadn't passed him in the galley and she was dry so she wasn't outside. He noticed the floor beneath the chair and wondered if she'd fit there and if she would what would she have been doing. Suddenly everything clicked and Josh realized that his dad had just received a blow job while driving the fucking boat. He couldn't wait to tell Jake.

* * *

Tess and Phil walked quietly to his room they had identical smirks on their faces. When his door was closed they both dissolved into laughter.

"I wonder how long it will take him to figure it out." said Tess trying to catch her breath.

"Well Josh thinks he's the smarter of the two so I'm sure he's working hard to figure it out right now." said Phil pulling Tess into his arms. "Now I believe I owe you something."

"I can't wait." said Tess excitedly. Phil carefully stripped Tess and laid her down on the bed moving to lie next to her. He started to carefully a finger over her body, never touching her where she needed to be touched. She was already wet.

"Are you wet from giving me a blow job?" Phil asked in wonderment.

"I'm wet from just being near you." said Tess arching her body towards his questing fingers.

"I think that admission deserves and extra reward" said Phil moving down her body to settle himself between her legs. He licked and sucked until Tess was writhing in pleasure. Phil was shocked that his body responded to the sounds of her orgasm and he felt himself harden. Usually his refractory period was longer, but perhaps the time without sex had reminded his body to get it when he could. He climbed onto the bed and flipped Tess onto her hands and knees. He thrust roughly into her causing her to moan. The sounds of their bodies slapping together filled the stateroom. Phil felt Tess' hand moved down to her clit and in a matter of minutes felt her start to pulse around him. With a stifled moan he followed her over the edge. They lay in bed waiting for their breathing to return to normal. Tess noticed the clock on the wall, it was already after 9.

"We should get dressed, Stella is probably going to come looking for me." said Tess.

"Good plan, I'd hate to have to explain what we were doing to her." said Phil.

"I suppose naked wrestling wouldn't be too well received." quipped Tess. They got dressed and laid back down together. A few minutes later they heard a very timid knock on the door.

"Come in" said Phil. Stella opened the door carrying what looked like a raingear pillow.

"Mommy, the tooth fairy came last night" said Stella crawling into bed in between Phil and Tess. "He brought me some candy and a big kid toothbrush and money."

"Wow, what a generous tooth fairy. Let me see the toothbrush." said Tess. The toothbrush was a very manly blue and was still in the package. She wondered who had sacrificed their spare toothbrush so the tooth fairy could give it to Stella.

"Congratulations Stella, I've never actually heard of a tooth fairy visiting a boat before." said Phil.

"She goes everywhere that someone looses a tooth. Jake told me all about it and what he use to get from the tooth fairy." Stella explained.

"Sounds like an exciting morning. Are you ready for some breakfast?" asked Tess. Stella nodded and climbed out of the bed.

"See you later" said Tess while dropping a kiss on Phil's cheek.

Tess and Stella made their way to the galley, it was empty. Tess busied herself making Stella a cheese omelet. Once Stella was finished with breakfast the two of them worked on writing Stella's name.

"Mommy, how long are we going to stay on the boat?" asked Stella.

"I'm not sure honey, why do you ask?" said Tess

"Because I want to stay forever. I really like it here." said Stella.

"Me too, but captain Phil only agreed to take us on the first trip, so we will just have to wait and see." explained Tess.

"I'm sure he'd want you to stay, he likes you a lot. And everyone else likes you too especially your cooking and how you do the laundry and stuff." said Stella.

"Like I said Stella, we just have to wait and see." said Tess. The rest of the day was spent coloring and writing. By the evening Stella could write her name fairly neatly and was feeling happy that it looked nice. Josh had passed through the galley as had Freddie. They'd both grabbed snacks and commented on Stella's coloring.

Jake woke up and came into the galley in time to make his famous Jake Steaks. Stella volunteered to help and was soon seasoning the steaks with Jake whispering his secret recipe into her ear. Steaks, baked potatoes, salad, and bread made up dinner. Everyone ate together for a change. Once dinner was done, Tess and Stella did the dishes while the guys got ready to pull the next string. With the kitchen cleaned Tess and Stella went up to the wheelhouse to watch the crew. They stayed up there until it was Stella's bedtime. Once Stella was tucked into her bed, Tess returned to the wheelhouse to sit with Phil.


	21. Part 21

Phil was calmly jogging the boat to the next string when he heard a whimper come from the bench seat behind him. He looked over his shoulder and saw that Tess was laying down on the seat her face scrunched into a frown. She was clearly having a nightmare. Phil got up from his seat and pulled her into his arms.

"Tess, it's ok, I'm here." said Phil softly. Tess' eyes fluttered open and she stared into his clear blue eyes. Her eyes were full of tears and they'd started to trickle out of the corners of her eyes. Phil picked her up and carried her to his chair, he sat down holding her in his lap. Tess just leaned her head on his shoulder and cried quietly. Once her crying was finished she lifted her head and gave Phil a gentle kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks" she said her voice sounding strangely young.

"You're welcome, I'll always try to be there to protect you" said Phil. Tess nodded her head in understanding then moved to get up from Phil's lap.

"Stay" he said "At least until my legs fall asleep."

"I'd love to." said Tess settling down to get comfy. She was asleep within minutes. Phil shifted her so she was cuddled into his arms with her head on his chest. He wondered what she'd say if he asked her to stay with him on the boat for the rest of the season. The possibility of her and Stella getting hurt still concerned him, he didn't want to put them in harms way any longer than necessary. But he loved having her on the boat, in fact he admitted only to himself was that he loved her and Stella. He wanted to keep them safe and that probably meant keeping them off the boat. They would be ready to unload in a few days if fishing kept up, he'd have to make his decision then, so for now he'd just enjoy the moment.

Tess woke a few hours later still seated on Phil's lap. She smiled sleepily at him.

"Your legs must have fallen asleep a while ago."

"Nope, they feel fine." said Phil. "We are just an hour or so away from the next string, do you think you can wake up the troops."

"Of course" said Tess. She made her way down to the galley and started a new pot of coffee. Next she got out a few ham steaks and set them on the griddle. She mixed up a huge batch of pancake mix then went to go wake up the guys. Murray and Freddie both said sleepy good mornings and seemed like they were well on their way to getting up. It was a completely different story for Jake and Josh, neither moved when Tess tried to wake them. Finally she sat down on Jake's bed and ran her fingers through his hair singing Good Morning by the Beatles. Josh was actually the first one to wake up and leaned down from his bunk to hear the rest of the song. Tess sang it until Jake opened his eyes.

"It's time to get up. I'm making pancakes" said Tess. Josh was up and digging through his bag to get on some clothes.

"I'll make sure Jakey gets up." said Josh in a sing song voice. Tess nodded and headed back to the kitchen.

By the time everyone made it to the galley the table was stacked with pancakes. Tess had made plain, blueberry and chocolate chip. There was also ham and eggs on the table as well as juice and milk. The guys sat down and started eating. Jake and Stella came out a little later than everyone else and Tess presented both of them with special Mickey Mouse pancakes. The whole crew got a kick out of seeing Stella's eyes light up and Jake turn pink. Phil came down and joined them just in time to see the special pancakes.

"Tess, why didn't you make me a special pancake." asked Phil petulantly.

"It's only for people that are hard to wake up." said Tess..

"Did Jake give you a hard time this morning?" asked Phil.

"Just a bit." said Tess with a smile.

"It was awesome dad, she sang the Beatles until he opened his eyes." explained Josh.

"Did you have to go through the whole catalogue?" said Phil.

"No, I just sang one song over and over, I find it works better." explained Tess.

"I bet, how many times did you have to repeat it?" asked Phil.

"I lost count" said Tess.

"Figures" said Phil.

Breakfast was quickly finished and the men suited up and headed out on deck. Tess and Stella quickly finished the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen.

* * *

Tess set up a movie for Stella to watch and headed back to Phil's room to lie down, she wasn't feeling good. She laid down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling, her eyes drifted closed but she couldn't seem to fall asleep. Her head was pounding and she felt cold. Getting up she helped herself to a few ibuprofen and returned to the bed. Thinking a change of outfit would make her feel better she moved to grab some pajamas out of her bag. She knocked her purse over in the process and cursed her clumsiness. The next minute was spent picking up all the odds and ends that had fallen out. Her hand stopped as she passed over the piece of paper she'd started to write out her will on. She set the paper aside and finished pushing items back into her purse. Once she'd changed into a clean set of pajamas she returned to the bed, sitting cross legged she stared at the piece of paper. Somewhere deep in her mind, she knew she should finish the will today. She leaned down and picked up a pen and something to write on. Putting pen to paper she decided to leave all of her earthly possessions to Stella. In the event that Stella is not old enough to take charge the money and property would be held in trust until her 18th birthday.

Tess paused in her writing, the next part was the most important. She needed to select a guardian for Stella. Her first thought was Kristin in San Diego, but she knew she wanted to get married and have her own family some day. She wouldn't want Stella to hinder those plans. Her next thought was Margie, she loved Stella and always took such good care of her. She sighed, if she really thought of who Stella would like to go with most it would be Jake Harris. It was too bad he was only 22 years old. To ask him to be her guardian would be a huge request that Tess would not ask of him. Tess would have to call Margie and ask her if she'd be willing to take Stella in the event something happened to her. Pulling herself out of bed she walked to the wheelhouse with her paper in hand. Passing through the galley she noticed that Stella was still watching her movie happily. Tess almost stopped to ask her who she would want to take care of her, then thought better of it.

Arriving up in the wheelhouse she asked Phil if she could use the satellite phone, he readily agreed and even dialed Margie's number for her.

"Hi Margie, it's Tess."

"Tess honey, how are you?" asked Margie.

"I'm doing well." answered Tess. "How's everything where you are?"

"It's ok" said Margie a little sadly.

"What's wrong Marg?" asked Tess.

"I'm going to Seattle for a couple of tests." said Margie. "I'm sure it's nothing, but I'm a little worried."

"I'll say some prayers for you. I just wanted to say thanks for rescuing my stuff and find out if the family has been back." said Tess.

"Thanks for the prayers. No one has been back to town, so far." said Margie.

"Ok, thanks again Margie. We send you our love and prayers." said Tess passing the phone to Phil to hang up.

"Everything ok?" asked Phil. Tess just nodded as she sat down heavily on the bench seat. Now she needed a new plan and she had no idea what to do.

"I have to say I'm having a hard time believing you're ok." said Phil. Tess looked up with teary eyes.

"I need to find a guardian for Stella. I was going to ask Margie, but she's going to Seattle for tests and stuff and I think she may be sick. I couldn't ask her to care for Stella if she's sick." finished Tess.

"Are you planning on dying?" asked Phil.

"No, but just in case. I wanted to make it before we left Dutch Harbor just in case. I didn't get a chance to finish it and I found it today." explained Tess.

"Honey, anyone you choose would be happy to take care of Stella. In fact I bet Jake would be the first one to step up and volunteer." said Phil.

"He's so young, it would be saddling him with a responsibility for the next 12 years. I know he cares for her but it's too much to ask." said Tess.

"I'd love to do it, if you'd consider me." said Phil. Tess looked up from the paper.

"Are you sure?" she asked tentatively.

"Yes." said Phil.

"Thank you." said Tess. She quickly bent over the paper and finished writing.

"If you want you can get Murray and Freddie to witness it for you." said Phil.

"Yes, that would be great. Once it's all set it will be a huge weight off my mind." said Tess.

* * *

Walking back into the galley Tess sat down with Stella, they played some games and did a few puzzles. Tess turned and pulled Stella into her lap, she explained who would take care of her if something happened and Tess wasn't able to anymore. Stella sat quietly listening intently to everything her mother said.

"Just know sweetie that if something happens to me Phil, Jake and Josh will take care of you, ok?"

"Ok. Are you sick?" asked Stella with concern.

"No. I just want to make sure that you are taken care of just in case." said Tess giving Stella a big squeeze.

"Ok mommy I understand." said Stella.

"Are you hungry?" asked Tess. Stella nodded. "Then lets make some lunch" The two worked together to make a mountain of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Stella took one up to Phil while Tess followed behind carrying a glass of milk. She wasn't sure if Phil would drink it, but she brought it at Stella's insistence. Tess sat in the portside chair while Phil and Stella ate their sandwiches.

"Aren't you having one?" asked Phil.

"She doesn't like peanut butter." explained Stella.

"How can you not like peanut butter?" said Phil in astonishment.

"I just don't, it's really not a big deal." said Tess nonchalantly.

"But you still make it for Stella and the guys even though you don't like it." said Phil.

"Yes, because she likes it, you like it, and the rest of the crew likes it. I'm just sacrificing for the good of the team." said Tess.

"Thank you for your sacrifice, it was delicious." said Phil.

"Sandwiches in the galley" announced Phil over the hailer. The crew scurried over the deck and into the galley like little rats after cheese.

"I guess they were hungry." said Tess with a laugh. She decided to check and make sure there were enough sandwiches for everyone. Stella and Phil sat alone together in the wheelhouse.

"Thanks for saying you'll take care of me." said Stella quietly.

"Come here Stella" said Phil. He settled Stella in his lap, grabbing a paper towel to wipe the jelly and peanut butter off her mouth. "It's an honor to be chosen to take care of you. I care about you and your mom very much."

"She likes you a lot too." said Stella. "She use to be really sad and she's not when she's with you."

"I'm glad I can make her happy." said Phil.

* * *

Phil and Stella sat together watching the crew return to the deck and pull part of the next string of pots. Phil was pleased when the crew had stuffed the second tank. He even let Stella give the guys a congratulations over the hailer. The two spent most of the day together talking, learning about each other's lives. Phil was surprised to find out that Stella would eat just about anything and her favorite food was sushi. Stella was thrilled to learn that Phil liked watching cartoons. She asked him a lot about when Jake was little and Phil told her many stories of the boys antics as children.

It was late by the time Tess told them dinner was ready. Dinner was meatloaf with mashed potatoes and carrots. Phil called the crew in and everyone sat together at the table to eat. When everyone was finished Jake, Josh and Stella did the dishes while Murray and Freddie witnessed Tess' will. They clapped Phil on the back telling him congratulations for being selected as Stella's guardian.

The crew returned to the deck to work through the night. Stella and Tess read in the wheelhouse until it was time for Stella to go to bed. Tess laid down in the bunk next to Stella and sang both Stella and herself to sleep. She was woken up by a very tired looking Jake who merely told her he'd take over. Tess dragged herself out of his bunk and into Phil's bed.


	22. Part 22

**Warning this chapter contains character death, explicit sexual descriptions and an epilogue.**

Phil crawled into bed next to Tess noticing she was wearing one of his t-shirts and a pair of black satin underwear. The underwear had small ties holding them together, gingerly Phil pulled both little bows and watched as the panels fell away leaving Tess bared to him. Insinuating his fingers between her legs he stroked her, he was rewarded as her legs parted giving him better access. She still seemed to be fast asleep but her body was responding to his ministrations. Phil leaned down and sucked Tess' earlobe into his mouth and gave it a gentle bite. Her eyes snapped open and she let out a very sensual moan.

"Did I wake you up?" asked Phil huskily.

"Wasn't that your plan?" said Tess turning her body so she could get more contact with his questing fingers.

"It may have crossed my mind." said Phil. Removing his fingers from her he quickly pulled off his clothes and removed the t-shirt she was wearing. "I love it when you wear my clothes, it makes you look so hot."

Tess answered his comment by giving him a searing kiss. Her hands traveled down his body tweaking his flat nipples and then continuing down to his hard shaft. Phil's hands roamed Tess' body before settling back in her pussy, he stroked her until he could feel the first fluttering of her orgasm. He pulled away and Tess gave a frustrated sigh, she'd been so close. Next Phil stood up, pulling the lower half of Tess' body off the bed. Her feet hit the floor and she was bent over in a perfect L shape. Phil entered her roughly and both he and Tess moaned as he filled her. From this angle he was able to hit her cervix with each thrust. Trailing a hand down her back he stopped just above her little rosebud. Teasing his finger around the opening of her ass he heard her moan louder. Taking the hint he reached down to where they were joined and wet his finger then drew it back to her ass. This time he slowly slipped his index finger all the way inside. Moving the finger in and out he soon added a second. He could feel his dick through the thin membrane that separated her two holes. Tess was getting close, she began forcefully pushing her hips back to meet Phil's thrusts. Phil started to move faster, feeling his balls tighten as he approached his own orgasm, he landed a hard smack on Tess' bottom which was all she needed to start cumming. Her orgasm triggered Phil's and he continued thrusting as he spilled inside her. Gently removing his fingers from her ass he laid her down on the bed. Tess' eyes were already closed.

"Thank you Phil, that felt wonderful" she said sleepily. Phil just smiled before spooning up against Tess and falling asleep.

The next morning Tess woke slowly, she felt deliciously sore. She decided to give Phil a pleasurable wake up call. She crawled down to kneel between his legs and took his cock into her mouth. It took only seconds for the cock to begin to respond. Tess ran her hands over his soft balls and over his thighs. Feeling him harder further she began to move her tongue around the head of his cock. She continued to suck and stroke him until she felt his hand slip into her hair and his hips start to thrust. Tess leaned back slightly then reached her mouth down as far as she could, Phil's cock slipped into the back of her throat and she began rhythmically swallowing. Tess' little trick proved to be too much and Phil tightened his grip on her hair and started pumping in and out of her mouth with abandoned. Soon he was spilling down her throat. Tess swallowed everything without spilling a drop then proceeded to lick Phil clean.

"That was a fabulous wake up call" said Phil, lifting Tess so he could kiss her. Tasting himself on her lips was a new experience for Phil, however he abandoned his current rumination of whether he liked it or not when he felt Tess move. She laid down opposite him on the small bed and began to finger herself. Phil's eyes were riveted to Tess' fingers. He watched, studying what made her feel good, it took her less than 5 minutes to cum. Phil watched as the look of ecstasy crossed her face and he could see her pussy clenching around her fingers.

Tess flopped backwards hitting her head on the dresser that held the TV.

"Ouch" she said sitting up. Phil was trying to hold back his laughter. "You can laugh, I'm sure it looked hilarious."

Phil's throaty chuckle filled the stateroom. Tess crawled over him earning herself a playful smack on the bottom. Once on the floor she quickly changed into a pair of yoga pants and a t-shirt.

"What's on tap for today?" Tess asked.

"Today we are going to hopefully plug the boat and head to town." said Phil. Tess just nodded and turned to open the door. She didn't want Phil to see the tears in her eyes.

* * *

Phil was true to his word and after a 30 hour grind the boat was full and the Cornelia Marie was heading to their first offload in Dutch Harbor. The crew got a spectacular shrimp scampi dinner after their marathon of pain was over. As they all retired to their staterooms to get some well deserved rest Tess cleaned and organized the kitchen and did the laundry. Phil came down from the wheelhouse to refill his coffee and noticed that his galley had been turned into a Laundromat.

"You do know that every guy on this boat knows how to do their own laundry right?" asked Phil.

"I know, but they are exhausted and they might as well have some clean smelling clothes to wear when they go into to town. said Tess folding a t-shirt.

"I'm sure they will appreciate it." said Phil. "Did you do mine already?"

"Your laundry was first and it's all folded on your bed." said Tess. "Stella matched your socks, so if you have any complaints you will have to lodge them with her."

"I'm sure she did a fantastic job." said Phil. "Speaking of jobs, I want to talk to you later."

"Ok, I'll come up when I'm done here." said Tess. She assumed he wanted to tell her that she and Stella were getting off at Dutch Harbor. The trip had been wonderful, but it was just one trip, that's all that was promised. Tess folded the laundry slowly trying to prolong the process as much as possible. Finally when she could delay no more she dragged her feet up the stairs to the wheelhouse.

Phil sat attentively in the chair turning to face Tess as she walked in. She sat down on the bench seat and waited for Phil to begin.

"Tess, these few weeks with you and Stella on the boat has been amazing." Tess smiled sadly waiting for the but. "I want you both to finish out the season with us."

Tess was shocked. "Are you sure?" she asked.

"If you don't want to I understand, from what we've heard the danger seems to have passed. I don't want you to feel like you have to. I'm sure Stella wants to go back to school and you want to get on with your life." said Phil.

"No. We want to stay with you on the boat." said Tess. "You don't know how happy you've made me."

"Tess, I love you and having you near me makes everyday dawn brighter and every night we spend together seems endless." said Phil getting up to embrace her.

"I love you too" was all Tess could say.

Phil made the announcement at dinner and it was received by a round of applause. Jake and Stella immediately went into planning mode about all the things she could learn to do on the second trip. After eating the crew watched one of Stella's movies then played cards until the wee hours of the morning. Josh had tucked Stella into bed after the movie telling her stories about what he and Jake were like as children.

Tess and Phil laid together in his bed both sated and sleepy. They could hear the occasional hoots and hollers from the galley when someone won a particularly good hand. "I'm so glad you agreed to stay." said Phil nuzzling Tess' neck.

"I'm so happy you asked me." said Tess.

* * *

The boat made it to Dutch in record time, the weather was good and the unload was proceeding smoothly. Stella was up in the wheelhouse with Phil watching the processor empty the crab tanks. They were playing guess the weight of each brailer, so far Phil was winning. Tess walked into the wheelhouse and announced she was going to check to see how Margie was feeling. Stella and Phil both nodded neither taking their eyes off the brailer being loaded. Tess sighed as her feet hit dry land. She never realized the effect the constant swaying had on her equilibrium. Walking quickly down the dock she headed up towards Margie's house.

The phone rang in the wheelhouse and Phil reached up and answered it without a second thought.

"Hello?"

"Phil, it's Margie. Is Tess there?"

"Nope, she just left to go visit you." said Phil already pulling the phone away from his ear.

"Stop Her!!" yelled Margie.

"What? Why?" asked Phil.

"Because I just got a call from Meg, Ethan is in the Elbow Room and he's looking for Tess." said Margie.

"Oh my God." was all Phil said as he jumped up from the chair. He ran down to the galley and saw that Josh was writing in a journal.

"Josh, you need to keep an eye on Stella, keep her in the room." said Phil.

"Ok, why? Is everything ok?" asked Josh already sliding out of his seat.

"No, Ethan is in town and he's looking for Tess." said Phil looking around for the other crew members.

"That's ok, we will just keep her on the boat, he won't come looking for her here." said Josh calmly.

"She already left the boat, she's on her way to Margie's" said Phil.

"Oh shit." said Josh. Phil spared him a glare that clearly said don't use that language in front of the girl. "Come on Stella lets play in our room." Josh led her by the hand to their shared room.

"Is my mom going to be ok?" asked Stella.

"I hope so" said Josh giving the little girl a hug.

Phil walked out on deck and filled Murray in on what was going on, then he jumped off the boat and headed down the dock to find Tess.

* * *

Tess turned down Margie's street blissfully unaware of the panic back on the Cornelia Marie. It was great to walk on the streets of Dutch again and she was looking forward to giving Margie a big hug. Tess wondered if Margie would be willing to come down to the Cornelia Marie and see Stella. She would have brought Stella with her but Phil was in the middle of playing a game with her.

Tess never heard Ethan approach her or heard the gunshots, she never even turned around because she was lost in her happy thoughts. Ethan fired twice and watched as Tess fell to the ground. Ethan walked over to where she lay on the ground and fired twice more. Hearing the sirens he gingerly turned the gun on himself and fired once. The police pulled up on a scene to the sight of two bodies, checking for a pulse.

"This one has a pulse" yelled a cop and the body was immediately transported to the hospital. The other body was covered and left where it was.

Hearing the sirens Margie walked out onto the street and immediately started running towards the scene, at the same time Phil was running towards it from the other side. Both were stopped by the police, who explained that someone had been killed and it was an active crime scene. Neither could determine who's body was under the sheet from the distance they were being held at. Phil walked around the taped off scene and saw Margie.

"Margie, where's Tess?" he yelled.

"I don't know" said Margie sobbing. "I just came out when I heard the sirens. By then it was all over."

A policeman came over to take their statements, both explained who Tess was and the problems she was having with her in laws. Margie explained that Ethan had attacked her once and the plan for Tess and Stella to disappear to throw the family off the scent.

"Do you think you could identify the bodies?" asked the policeman.

"Yes" said Margie. The policeman lifted the tape and took Margie over to the sheet covered body. He bent down and lifted the corner, Margie collapsed to the ground sobbing. That was all Phil needed to see to know that it was Tess.

* * *

By the time Phil had returned to the boat everyone on the docks knew what had happened. Sig saw Phil walking and hopped off his boat to speak to him. "Phil, I'm so sorry."

"All she wanted to do was live her life and they couldn't let her." said Phil despondently. "And now I have to tell Stella."

"Stella wasn't with her?" asked Sig surprised.

"No, she's on the boat with Josh." said Phil. "Why would you ask that?"

"Because Meg at the Elbow heard that nut say he was going to kill both of them. We assumed that Tess took Stella with her." explained Sig.

"Stella's safe." repeated Phil.

"I have to go tell the guys. Is it ok if we come by your boat later?" asked Sig.

"Yeah sure." said Phil.

* * *

Phil hopped aboard the boat he walked over to Murray and quietly told him what happened. Tears began to run down Murray's cheeks, he didn't even have words to express his sadness. Phil just patted him on the back and headed inside. Once inside he heard happy squeals coming from the room where Stella was, he paused trying to find the strength to open the door. Before he found it the door burst open and Stella, Jake and Josh tumbled out of the room. They all froze as they saw the look on Phil's face. Stella's face crumpled into a frown and she turned around and ran back into the room.

"What happened dad?" asked Jake.

"It's Tess, she was killed just outside of Margie's house, Ethan shot her." said Phil unable to choke back the tears.

"No! We kept her safe, we protected her." shouted Jake. Then realizing that Stella was probably listening he stopped. Ranting and raving would solve nothing.

"Are you sure?" said Josh.

Phil nodded. "Margie identified the body." he said quietly. Phil moved into the stateroom and at first couldn't see where Stella was. He found her squished in between the bunks and the wall. Figuring she wouldn't come out he sat down on the floor in front of her.

"Stella honey, I'm so sorry about your mom." said Phil.

"I didn't even say bye to her or tell her I loved her." wailed Stella.

"She knew that you loved her you told her and showed her everyday." said Phil.

"I should have gone with her." said Stella sadly.

"No, he would have hurt you too and that would have made your mom sad, it would have made all of us sad." said Phil reaching a hand out to Stella. Stella took his hand and allowed herself to be pulled into his lap. They sat together for a long time. Jake and Josh both came in to check on them but neither chose to make their presence known.

As Phil and Stella mourned the investigation into what happened continued. Tess' body was moved to the morgue and it was discovered during autopsy that the first shot had killed her instantly severing her spinal column at the base of her neck. Ethan did not make it out of surgery alive, he succumbed to his injuries as the surgeon attempted to remove bullet fragments from his brain. Margie informed the fleet of Tess' death and Meg at the Elbow room set up a fund for funeral expenses and money for Stella. The donations came flooding in. When Ethan's family was informed of what happened Eleanor quickly made arrangements for Tess and Ethan's bodies to be moved to Los Angeles, her inquiries about Stella were met with silence. Tess' mother was informed and told the coroner in no uncertain terms that her daughter's body was not to be given to "that harridan". The coroner took her advice and did not release Tess' body to Eleanor.

A few days later the Cornelia Marie was still in port, everyone on board agreeing not to leave until everything regarding Tess' estate and Stella was settled. Stella for her part stayed on the boat, never even venturing outside. Margie came to visit, as did the crews from the Northwestern and the Time Bandit. Norman brought Stella's bike, but Stella said she wasn't in the mood for riding. Tess' mother arrived and met with Phil. He showed her the will Tess had written at sea and she agreed that if Tess thought he was fit to raise Stella then who was she to dispute it. She proved to be a powerful ally against Eleanor and her family. Tess' mother pulled out a battered piece of paper which contained her only daughter's requests regarding her death. Tess had written it when she was 9 years old and revised it the year Eric had died. It called for a simple memorial service, asking that small pictures of her be displayed tastefully. She asked that Stella be escorted and that she never be left alone, that her comfort was imperative. She asked that she be cremated and that her named executor decide where she'd like to be scattered or stored. The rest of the paper specified certain flowers that she'd like if they were available and other small details.

Her requests were carried out to the letter. She had named both Jake and Josh as executors of her will much to their surprise. The memorial service was beautiful with Phil and Sig both giving touching eulogies. Stella got up and told how happy her mom had been in Dutch Harbor that Tess had been happier here than any time Stella could remember. She seemed to want to say more but couldn't talk through the tears. Margie spoke next as to how generous and caring Tess was and Meg spoke of her friendship and dedication to her daughter. Finally Tess' mother spoke, she gave a small history of their family giving everyone in attendance an idea of the past that Tess kept so hidden. A past of privilege and wealth that never made Tess happy, that love and being a mother were her true passions. That she loved cooking and making everywhere she went a home whether it was a hotel or a crab boat. She thanked everyone who loved her daughter and the whole community for welcoming her and Stella into their tight knit family.

The next day the will was read, everything was left to Stella with the exception of small bequests left for the executors. The house was left in Kristen's care until Stella asked for it or until it became a burden in which case it would be sold. Tess' lawyer from California came to the reading and presented Phil with a mountain of paperwork regarding Stella's various bank accounts. Phil signed the papers knowing that Stella would never use them until she was grown, he would provide everything for the little girl. Jake and Josh took Stella back to the boat while Phil dealt with the guardianship papers and other formalities. Eleanor and her family placed a bid to get custody of Stella, it was dismissed outright because Ethan had been charged with Tess' murder. That was the last Phil heard from them. A week after Tess' death the Cornelia Marie went back out to catch the rest of their quota. By the end of the season Stella could almost hook a buoy.

* * *

Epilogue

Stella only spent that one crab season on the boat. The rest of her young life was spent at very good private schools in Seattle. Phil bought a house with a huge backyard during their first Christmas together. Jake and Josh even moved in for a while to help Stella adjust. Although she lived a life of privilege she enjoyed doing very simple things, like playing with her dogs and painting. Stella had inherited her mother's love of cooking and by the time she was 8 could make an entire Thanksgiving dinner all by herself. She grew up into a beautiful woman all under Phil's watchful eye. She went to college and majored in business eventually working in the fishing industry managing the business side for crab boats like the Cornelia Marie. When she turned 25 Jake Harris asked her to marry him and she accepted. At their wedding reception Josh told the guests that the first time they'd slept together Stella was only 6 years old. The next morning Josh found his head shaved and his face super glued to his pillow. Neither Stella nor Jake would admit who came up with the idea.

Tess' ashes sat on Phil's mantel through it all, bearing silent witness to all of the families accomplishments. Phil never left for a trip without touching the beautiful engraved plaque. He dated but never remarried, feeling that he'd lost part of his heart when Tess died. He welcomed Stella and Jake's first child into his house, little Cornelia Tessora became the apple of Phil's eye.

Many years later Phil and Stella were sitting outside watching her children play in the backyard.

"Phil, thank you for everything." said Stella never taking her eyes off her children.

"You are very welcome Stella, your mother gave me a huge gift when she selected me to be your guardian. Not only did I get to watch you grow up but I got to have you as an official daughter when you married Jake." said Phil.

"She loved you so much" said Stella "When we were in the hospital she told me how fate has a way of stepping in when you need something. I think she was talking about you."

Phil leaned over and placed a kiss on Stella's tear stained cheek. To Phil fate had never seemed sweeter.


End file.
